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Reasonable Elocution 



TEXT-BOOK 



SCHOOLS, COLLEGES, CLERGYMEN, LAWYERS, 
ACTORS, Etc. 



BY 



F. TAVEBNEK gkaham, 



IT '#v 



A. S. BARNES AND COMPANY, 

NEW YORK AND CHICAGO, 
1575. 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 18f4, by 

A. S. BARNES & CO., 
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



INTRODUCTION, 



THAT the Art of Reading will "come naturally" is 
a common fallacy, with which we almost con- 
stantly delude ourselves. Even if it were true, it would 
offer little encouragement to those who appreciate the 
beauty and importance of the art ; for some method of 
reading is always taught, and as this is extremely likely 
to be radically wrong, all chance of attaining a strictly 
natural style of reading is destroyed at an early period 
of the pupil's career by errors of instruction and the con- 
tagion of bad example. 

In point of fact, however, Elocution is both a science 
and an art — resting on positive laws, founded in the 
nature of things ; and, as in the case of any other art or 
science, these laws never come by nature, but must be 
mastered by study and practice. The master must have 
spent hours and days in careful research and patient delin- 
eation of the most insignificant natural points ; he must 
have familiarized himself with all science that bears even 
remotely on his art; otherwise he exposes himself to the 
danger of introducing incongruities into his work, and 
of committing blunders, which will be apparent at once 
to the trained observer. Sculptors, for instance, are 
obliged to study anatomy, in order to avoid the mistakes 
they would perpetrate were they ignorant of the distri- 



4 INTRODUCTION. 

bution of the bones and muscles, their movements and 
attachments in the human frame. But even this is not 
enough ; if the sculptor be unfamiliar with the theory of 
" equilibrium," he may spoil his work by representing 
the perpendicular from the centre of gravity as falling 
unnaturally. And the necessity for scientific knowledge 
in the painter is even more evident ; it is the disregard of 
linear, and the lack of all aerial perspective, that consti- 
tutes the absurdity of Chinese pictures ; yet perspective 
rests on strictly natural laws which science alone can 
interpret. 

The artistic effects produced by an elocutionist, an 
orator, or an actor, represent purely objective and sub- 
jective phenomena ; and they can be true representations 
only in so far as they conform to the natural laws of 
these phenomena. Before they can thus conform, the 
delineator of human feelings and passions must under- 
stand what are the laws and under what conditions they 
vary. For this reason, the study of psychology is of 
the utmost importance to the elocutionist ; it will enable 
him to indicate by his inflections of voice, by intonation 
and by emphasis, his mental attitude toward certain 
thoughts and sentiments without digression to explain it ; 
and this is nearly the whole art of Elocution. 

Every clergyman, orator, and actor, possesses at least 
a stock of empirical generalizations which guide him in 
his exposition of the matter in hand ; but to have a gen- 
eral idea only of what we are to do and of how we are to 
express ourselves under given circumstances, is not suf- 
ficient ; such meagre knowledge will not enable us to 
delineate different shades of thought or various and com- 
plex emotions. It is this sort of vague impression — or 
rather, quite definite ignorance — that gives us that large 



INTRODUCTION. 5 

class of persons who render all its passions with extreme 
violence, and after exhausting themselves (and their au- 
dience) imagine that they have done all that " elocution " 
can do. These persons are not confined to the stage ; 
we have them in the pulpit, at the bar, in Congress, on 
the rostrum. They of the pulpit will declaim on the 
attributes of the Almighty, or the happiness of those 
who have found that peace which the Saviour promised, 
in as forcible tones, as fast "time," and with as energetic 
gesticulations, as they employ in denunciations of the 
sinner, or in depicting the sufferings of the lost. The 
lawyer who affects this style of delivery will throw as 
much emphasis into a description of the clothes his client 
wore on the night of the assault as into his execration of 
the assailant's villainy. And there is another description 
of public speaker, who has a fine voice, and who employs 
his full deep tones alike on all he utters, — the deep- 
est emotions, the simplest narrative, the most violent 
passions. He has a particular fondness for the " semi- 
tone," that plaintive minor key, symbolical of grief or 
melancholy. He reads the psalms of praise with the sad 
half tones that belong to penitence ; making the volun- 
tary and joyful offering of thanksgiving a lugubrious 
task which he feels very melancholy (for so his tone 
indicates) in performing. He uses emotional tones on 
sentences or sentiments that indicate emotion in no 
degree ; or if he employs tones which have a natural 
relation to the ideas expressed, his reading will as fre- 
quently verge on the burlesque as on the grand ; for 
" burlesque " is simply an inversion of natural laws — as 
when trivial or absurd sentiments are delivered in heroic 
tones and with impressive emphasis. When little or no 
emotion exists in idea, tones that are full and sonorous 



O INTRODUCTION. 

should be used but sparingly, or not at all ; as feeling 
rises they may be employed more freely, and only in 
their intensity where the climax of passion is reached. 

Many people object to any special study of elocution 
for the reason that they do not expect to become profes- 
sional readers or public speakers. Would they object to 
the study of literature because they cannot hope to 
become authors ? Or to that of music because they 
would never dream of becoming a Beethoven, Mozart, or 
Gluck ? Or to that of astronomy or any of the sciences 
because they can never aspire to the position of a Her- 
schel or a Humboldt ? Who most keenly enjoys a fine 
picture ? Certainly he who has the most extended knowl- 
edge of what the picture represents — of those facts in 
nature or in life which he finds delineated therein, and 
on the accuracy of which he can pronounce. Why is it 
that the person of cultivated mind takes so much more 
pleasure in a noble poem than does one who is ignorant ? 
Is it not because a wider acquaintance with the subject, 
and the ability to compare its beauties with those charms 
similar, and yet different, possessed by other poems, 
causes him to see in the work many things of which the 
uneducated one is ignorant ? So with elocution. A 
knowledge of it not only enables us to interpret thought 
and emotions to others, but assists us very greatly in 
understanding them ourselves. The person who can 
read well is, even as a listener, very different from him 
who can not. 

Still another fallacy, far too current even among intel- 
ligent people, is the idea that those who display the 
higher elocutionary accomplishments possess a " genius " 
which it would be vain to endeavor to acquire — the cul- 
tivation of which is bevond the reach of art. Such ideas 



INTRODUCTION. 



are born of ignorance ; for so thinks the savage of the 
simplest computation in arithmetic, or the untutored 
boor of the wonders of the magic lantern. A thorough 
knowledge of the principles of any art will enable a de- 
termined student to approach perfection in it. If he 
possesses these principles in elocution, he may on them 
found his own style of reading or speaking, which may 
be natural and excellent, and yet very different from his 
neighbor's founded on the same principle. 

The more important of these principles I shall en- 
deavor to make plain in the following chapters. It will 
be observed that I do this rather by examples, and exer- 
cises, and illustrations, than by exposition. To the mere 
reader this will perhaps seem cumbrous, and even per- 
plexing ; but teachers will understand full well that it 
is the only efficient method of impressing new facts on 
the minds of the young, or of converting theoretical 
into practical knowledge. 

F. T. G. 



ABSTRACT OF CONTENTS. 



IN this little work I have endeavored to supply to 
teachers, their pupils, and other persons, a long-felt 
need of an Elocutionary Text-book, founded on philo- 
sophical principles. Principals of schools and others have 
frequently said to me, " Why do you not publish a book 
which shall embrace the principles you teach, and various 
exercises illustrative of those principles ?" I decided 
that a brief work, with the natural laws of Time, Tone, 
and Emphasis explained, and their truth proved, would 
answer the general purpose better than the sort of book 
I had at first contemplated writing. The first division in 
" Reasonable Elocution " explains the necessity for, and 
the ease with which the speaking and reading voice can 
be cultivated ; the manner of so doing, and exercises for 
the purpose ; the plan being very similar to that used 
for the singing voice, the difference being that sentences 
are used for scales instead of " sea " or " do, re, mi," etc., 
and that they are spoken on regularly ascending and 
descending scales, designed for increasing the flexibility 
and compass of the speaking voice. Exercises for dis- 
tinct utterance are also included in this division. 

The division on " Time " is explanatory of the mental 
valuation of thoughts and sentiments by the changes in 
the " Time " of rendering. The natural management of 



10 ABSTRACT OF CONTENTS. 

parentheses, similes, quotations, metaphors, the mar- 
velous, parables, etc., is through changes in Time • the 
philosophy of the principle which governs these changes, 
and their propriety proved. Illustrations of the different 
principles. 

EMPHASIS. 

Its philosophy, and practical execution. Errors in 
emphasis common among scholars. Natural laws which 
should guide us in emphasis. 

The "Emphatic Clause" is a new fact or idea, now 
presented for the first time — it should be ascertained 
without additional particular. The "Unemphatic 
Clause " presents no new idea ; it may be of repetition, 
of sequence, of anticipation, etc., etc. Examples. 

Emphatic Word. When the root idea is a word, that 
word is emphatic. Emphasis, by "massing" several 
words, presenting one and the same idea. Examples. 

Clauses unemphatic through having been mentally 
projected. Examples. 

Emphasis by transfer when there are repeated words. 
Examples. 

A repeated word, having a new signification, has all 
the logical power of a new word. Examples. 

Psychological positives and negatives. Inflections of 
voice indicate positive or negative attitudes of mind 
with regard to thoughts. The mental stand-point, from 
which we regard certain ideas or sentiments, gathered 
by auditors from the sort of inflections we employ. The 
main purpose of the speaker should be indicated by true 
inflections. Examples. 

Lectures, sermons,, etc., are rendered obscure and con- 



ABSTRACT OF CONTEXTS. 11 

fused through inattention to this obvious law of nature. 
Examples from the parables, etc. 

The " wave " of the voice, ^ ^ <-* ^. or vacillating 
inflection, mark the episode, the illustration ; they 
indicate a departure from the main track of thought. 
They are produced through the mind's vacillating be- 
tween the illustration and the subject illustrated ; the 
return to the main thought is naturally marked by a 
return to the usual upright ^ and downright \ inflections. 
Examples. 

Antagonism: of Grammatical Forms. 

Analysis of Interrogation ; 

1. The "interrogative form" is antagonistic to the 
spirit when requiring to be read Avith the downward in- 
flection, being assertive in meaning. Examples. 

Sentences in part declarative, in part interrogative. 

2. The " conditional form " is opposed to the " spirit," 
and requires to be read with the downward \, when the 
thought is absolute. 

3. The "imperative form" is opposed to the "spirit," 
when requiring to be read with the upward inflection, 
the thought being conditional, uncertain. Examples. 

MELODY. 

As applied to the reading of poetry. Faults against 
melody. 

Common defects to be avoided : 

1. Similarity of "rhythmical accent." 

2. " " "ending." 

3. " by pause. 
These are subdivided. Examples, 



12 ABSTRACT OF CONTENTS. 



Tones of the Emotions. 

The symbol of sublimity, the grand, the majestic, etc., 
the "Orotund." Examples. 

The symbol of love, tenderness, affection, the Dimin- 
uendo, ^==~. Imperceptible vanish. Illustrations. 

Symbol of sorrow, grief, penitence, etc., the Semi- 
tone. Examples. 

Symbol of anger, wrath, etc., abrupt force. Exer- 
cise for giving strength, volume, dignity to the voice. 
Exercise on abrupt force, the skillful execution of 
which (abrupt -force) is one of the highest vocal attain- 
ments, and becomes a security against injury to the 
throat in speaking. 

Symbols of aversion, praise, joy, sarcasm, etc. The 
Aspirate symbol of earnestness, hate, etc. Exercises 
for each 

Gesture. 

Natural principles for each gesture. Grace — how ex- 
pressed. Energy — where and when employed. Affirma- 
tive, negative, rejection, propulsion, pointing, elevation 
or depression, deferention, description, extended, literal 
gestures. Appropriate passages on which to exercise 
each. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

PAGE 

Cultivation of the Voice.— 1st Scale, 2d Scale, 3d Scale, 
4th Scale, 5th Scale* . 15 

CHAPTER II. 
Time. — Parenthesis, Simile, Quotation, Metaphor, Marvellous. 28 

CHAPTER III. 

Emphasis* — Parables, Massing, Transfer, Mental Projection, 
Antagonism of Grammatical Forms 65 

CHAPTER IV. 

Inflection. — Psychological Positives and Negatives, The 
Wave of the Voice C3 

CHAPTER V. 

The Tones of the Emotions.— Sorrow, Symbol of Joy, 
Surprise, Sublimity, etc, etc 125 

CHAPTER VI. 
Gesture. — Grace, Energy, etc., etc . 1C8 

CHAPTER VII. 
Miscellaneous Examples * 204 



CHAPTER 1. 

CULTIVATION OF THE VOICE. 

HP HE speaking or reading voice is capable of im- 
-^- provement in the same proportion as the singing 
voice ; and we can all appreciate the degree of excel- 
lence attained by our " prime donne," our tenors and 
bassos. We may also compare the same voice in its 
uncultivated state with the pitch of perfection to 
which culture has brought it, and involuntarily exclaim 
with the poet : " This was beautiful, but this is 
Beauty ; this was strong, but this is Strength ; this 
was perfect, this is Perfection." 

To express the various emotions, the contrasts fre- 
quently portrayed in a poem, to read a character from 
a play, or to personate in one reading or recitation 
several characters, requires a command of tones, a 
pliancy of voice, seldom in the power of those who 
have daily practice only on the limited range of notes, 
called into play hy the every day interchange of 
thought, the question and the answer of ordinary life ; 
and these can be attained only by the most careful 
and comprehensive vocal culture, in accordance with 
principles which we shall try to make plain in the 
progress of this book. 

To cultivate the voice we must aeauire — 



16 CULTIVATION OF THE VOICE. 

1. Flexibility, which consists of a smooth and easy 
gliding from one note to another. 

2. A good " range " or " compass," so that the 
voice may with, ease run up to a very high note, or 
take, without effort or straining, a very deep, round, 
resonant tone. 

3. An improved quality of voice, which can only 
be obtained through culture. 

In the exercises which follow, all the practice that is 
necessary for the acquirement of these objects can be 
obtained ; but they must be faithfully studied and 
practised— no merely theoretical knowledge is of the 
slightest service here. The various illustrative pas- 
sages are selected on the following principles, which 
must be borne in mind in order to understand this and 
the immediately succeeding lessons : 

1. When practice is desired on a " scale " in which 
the voice may slide though a whole tone to the next in 
order, lines are chosen in which the quantity is capa- 
ble of indefinite prolongation — a vowel, or vowels, 
being contained in each syllable. 

2. To compel the voice to rise by " steps " instead of 
the gliding movement, lines are selected for the pre- 
dominance of their sounding consonants. 

3. For practice on the " semitonic " movement, 
lines in which the sentiments of regret, pity, or grief 
are predominant, will be best adapted for giving us 
power and ease in the expression of those emotions. 



CULTIVATION OF THE VOICE. 17 



FIRST SCALE. 

The first scale is for practice on whole notes ; the 
"range" neither so high nor so low that beginners 
will find difficulty in taking it. 

Claudio. Is this the monument of Leonato ? 
Attendant. It is, my lord.. 
Claud. {Beads from a scroll.) 

Done to death by slanderous tongues, 

Was the Hero that here lies : 
Death, in guerdon of her wrongs 
Gives her fame, ichich never dies / 
So the life that died with shame, 
Lives in death tcith glorious fame, 

Hang thou there upon the tomb, 

(affixing it) 
Praising her when I am dumb. 

— Much Ado about Nothing. 

Commencing where Claudio reads from a scroll, 
" Done to death," recite those three words on a high 
brilliant key on one tone. Then throwing the voice 
quite five tones lower, pronounce the same words 
again, in fuller, rounder tones ; then, throwing the 
voice as low as possible, beginning with the word 
" Done," rise gradually until the word " dies " has 
been pronounced ; give the word " So " on the same 
" tone," then gradually descend. 

As in the harp the vibrations are more numerous 
on the shorter strings, fewer and longer on the longer 
strings, in the " speaking voice " there is greater acute- 
ness and more vibrations on the higher tones, and 



18 



CULTIVATION OF THE VOICE. 



greater gravity and fewer vibrations on the lower 
tones. 

The following arrangement will assist the pupil in 
the practice of this scale : 



dies 


4 


So the 


never 




life 


which 




that 


fame 




died 


her 




with 


Done to death ! gives 




shame 


wrongs 




lives 


of her 




in death 


in guerdon 




with 


Death 




glorious 


lies 




fame 


here 




hang 


that 




thou 


Hero 2 Done to death there 


the 
was 




upon 
the tomb 


tongues 
sland'rous 




praising 
her 


by 

death 




when 
I 


to 




am 


Done 




dumb. 



Bear in mind that the voice is not to be unnaturally 
strained. After sufficient practice the voice may be 
able to rise or fall only the fourth of a tone above or 
below what was formerly its power ; yet that is some- 
thing gained, and must be acquired by long practice, 
never by forcing. 

There are some defects in the practice of scales, into 



CULTIVATION OF THE VOICE. 10 

which the beginner may be betrayed, if he be not cau- 
tious, and which, on being warned, the keen, critical 
or sensitive ear will carefully avoid. 

1. In ascending the scale do not " economize " by 
rising a few tones, then falling or going back a little ; 
then ascending again a short distance, only to retro- 
grade once more after a few seconds ; this false mode of 
practising we may exemplify in the following manner : 

P of, etc. 

Death in /^ (* don 
( * guer- 
Hero \*/ • here lies 

the * * that 

sland'rous^/ \^was 

Death by P & tongues 

^Done 

This fault is usually committed by people with a con- 
scious inability to rise to a very high pitch. 

2. Listen attentively to your own voice in ascend- 
ing, and make sure that you are doing so gradually 
and regularly. Do not, through inadvertence, allow 
the voice to skip a note or two ; this mistake is made 
by people of defective " ear " — those of whom Ave 
speak as not having a "good ear" for music. The 
same care should be observed in descending the scale, 
as an involuntary "skip" may be made through inat- 
tention. When this fault is committed, the pupil will 
find that, before a sentence of his scale has been pro- 
nounced, he has reached the highest tone of which his 
voice is capable, and vice versa in the descent. 



20 



CULTIVATION OF THE VOICE. 






A 









\ \ 



or, 






A. 



~( 



V * 



The uniformity of De- 
scent being similarly 
marred. 



An illustration of preced- 
ing scale, as recited after due 
" practice." 



dies. 



( ( ( 
a * _ ^, 
Done to death 



r, 



_ never 
^ which 
£ fame 
J her 



J 



giyes 
p wrongs 
J of her 
^ in guerdon 
1 Death 



r ( ( 

<& m m , 

Done to death 



^ lies 
J here 
^ that 
^ Hero 
^the 
^was 
rf tongues 
1 sland'rous 



^ death 
J to 
J Done 



CULTIVATION OF THE VOICE. 21 

^the 
^life 
^that 
^ died 
^ with 
^ shame 
^ lives 
^ in death 
^ with glo- 
^ rious fame. 
!* Hang 
^ thou 
^ there 
^ upon 
^ the tomb 
^ Praising 
^ her 
^ when 

V 

^ am 

' m dumb. 

In this scale, dwell on the vowel sounds ; you will 
then carry the voice almost without breakage by the 
gliding movement from tone to tone throughout. 

SECOND SCALE. 

The same directions for practice are to be followed 
here as in previous scale ; for certain voices this may 
be found an easier scale for practice at first than the 
preceding. A voice that with difficulty takes the 



22 CULTIVATION OF THE VOICE. 

upper notes, had better begin with the second scale ; 
but after a certain facility has been attained with the 
first, those having a deficiency in deep notes had bet- 
ter give especial attention to this one. 

Puck. How now, spirit : whither wander you ? 
Fairy. Over hill, over dale, 

Thorough bush, thorough brier, 
Over park, over pale, 

Thorough flood, thorough fire, 
I do wander every where, 
Swifter than the moones sphere. 

— Midsummer NigMs Dream. 

Recite the first line on a high brilliant tone ; allow- 
ing the voice to fall a tone on the last syllable of 
" wander," and again a " tone " on " you," in order to 
form a pleasing cadence. 



( ( ( ( ( 

& & 
How now spirit whither wan- 


J 

der J 




yon. 



Commencing " Over hill " on the ordinary conversa- 
tional key, rise gradually until you have pronounced 
the word "fire;" give "I" on the same tone as 
"fire," then descend, each succeeding tone being 
deeper, fuller, and longer than the last, until at the 
word " sphere," the lowest tone in the compass of 
the voice is reached. 

The same precautions as to the avoidance of certain 
faults in practice apply to this as to the first scale. 



CULTIVATION OF THE VOICE. 



23 



pale 
& over 

s park 
^ over 
£ brier 
^ thorough 
£ hush 
e^ thorough 
« r dale 
^over 
J hill 
^Over 



£ fire ^ ] 

^thorough ^ 

^ flood 

^ thoroiTgh 



l „do 



i wan- 



^der 



^ev 1 - 

^ where 
^, swif- 
^ter 
^than 
^the 
^ moon- 
^ es 
ip sphere 



On the descent the voice should have attained a 
point in its compass quite five tones lower than the 
note on which " over" was given. 

THIRD SCALE. 



i 



I now introduce a passage to be employed, first as a 
scale, then as an exercise for obtaining distinctness of 
utterance. As a scale, the voice rises, not by the 
gliding movement, but by " steps," giving all the con- 
sonants great prominence. As an exercise on " Dis- 
tinctness," read the lines in a natural manner, but 
dwell on each vowel, and give all the consonants great 
force and prominence, especially 
sound of "K," "E," "T," "P," "D." 



U C" having the 



24 CULTIVATION OF THE VOICE. 

" The raging rocks, 
With shivering shocks, 
Shall break the locks, 

Of prison-gates : 
And Phibbus' car 
Shall shine from far, 
And make and mar 

The foolish fates." 

— Midsummer NigMs Dream, 

m gates 
»' prison And 
1 of \ Phib- 

J locks ^ bus' 

£ the \ car 

J break \ shall 

£ shall ^5 shine 

o shocks \, from 

i ing S» far 

^shiver- \ and 

^ with ^ make 



r. 



X rocks ^ and 



raging ^ mar 

^ the 

3, f O 

'gp fates. 



^ The i the 

^ foolish 



FOURTH SCALE. 

The arrangement is similar to Scale 2. The range 
of voice, however, is both higher and lower than in 
that scale. The voice should have had ample prac- 
tice on the preceding exercises before this one is 
attempted. 

Titania. Come, now a roundel, and a fairy song ; 
Then, for the third part of a minute, hence ; 
Some to kill cankers in the musk-rose buds ; 
Some, war with rear-mice for their leathern wings, 



CULTIVATION OF THE VOICE. 



25 



To make my small elves coats ; and some, keep back 
The clamorous owl, that nightly hoots, and wonders 
At our quaint spirits : Sing me now asleep ; 
Then to your offices, and let me rest. 

— Midsummer JVighfs Dream. 

Practice this scale many times before attempting 
any force ; giving the whole attention to acquiring a 
"true" ascent and descent. 



r 

Come 


( f ( ( 

& 9 9 

now a round - el 

coats 
Jp elves 
J small 


C ( ( 
and a fair- 


ry ( 
song 




£my 


And 






^ to make 


' some 






X wings 


^keep 






£ leathern 


^.back 






X their 


^the 






Jfor 


' a clam 


rous 




X rear-mice 


^ owl 






J with 


^that 




& war 


S» nightly 




J some 


*, hoots 




£ buds 


« 


md 




J rose 


1 


wonders 



• 9 musk- 
in the 



9 kers 
Jcan- 



_ kill 
/to 

^ some 
J hence 
iute 
Jmin- 
£of a 
• part 
m the third 
^for 
Then 



at our 
p quaint 
^ spirits 



asleep 
■ then 



m your 
^ offices 
^, and 
^let 
Jp me 
^rest 



26 CULTIVATION OF THE VOICE. 



Exercise foe Practice of Distlnct Utterance. 

The following passage embraces the quality of in- 
tensity of expression which requires a certain degree 
of the "Aspirate." 

Calaban. As wicked dew as e'er my mother brush'd 
With raven's feather from unwholesome fen, 
Drop on you both ! a south-west blow on ye, 
And blister you all o'er ! 

Prosper o. For this, be sure, to-night thou shalt have 
cramps, 
Side-stitches that shall pen thy breath up ; urchins 
Shall, for that vast of night that they may work, 
All exercise on thee : thou shalt be pinch'd 
As thick as honey-combs, each pinch more stinging 
Than bees that made them. 

— The Tempest. 

Give Calaban a deep, guttural voice, sounding each 
consonant very forcibly. When Prospero speaks, his 
words call for the aspirate combined with great stress 
on the consonant, to give his speech the degree of 
earnestness and energy its sentiments call for. 

In their proper place the " Symbols " of the differ- 
ent " Emotions " will be given and described. In pas- 
sages appropriated simply for " Cultivation of Voice," 
but little mention will be made of these symbols. 



CULTIVATION OF THE VOICE. 



27 



FIFTH SCALE. 
1 To the deep ! 

3 Down 



2 To the deep 

-„ throne ! 



test 



) 



remo- 
J of the 

J step 
J the 
J even to 



4 Down 



and ave Down ! 



^ which seem 

J of things 

J bar 
( 



_the 

J and 
J> vale 
J the 



Down! 



* ; iife 
^ and of 
J of death 
J stiife 
cloudy 



through 



; 



5 the 
through 



J of sleep 
J the shades 
Through 



Down, 



CHAPTEK II. 

TIME. 

ONE of the most important means for interpret- 
ing an author correctly is varied " time " in 
utterance. The longer or shorter duration of time 
occupied in the- rendering of sentences, expresses the 
mental valuation of such sentences ; and the relative 
changes in " time," the relative importance of the 
various passages. The relationship of groups of 
clauses, also, is indicated "by time." The train of 
literal thought which is interrupted by a metaphor, is 
depicted as such by a difference in the "time" be- 
tween literal and metaphorical, symbolizing the natu- 
ral "break" in the thought. 

That you are describing a miracle, the accomplish- 
ment of prophecy, the marvellous, etc., etc., is indi- 
cated by the particular " time " in which you read. A 
parable is a figurative illustration in which the direct 
or literal meaning is not the real or principal one ; it 
is designed to point an important truth with greater 
vividness ; then, as the illustration is not so important 
as that which it illustrates as a whole, it is read faster 
than that which it images, and the " important truth " 
which it points — that is, the teaching — is read in slower 
time than the main text. 



TIME. 29 

Students in elocution are frequently told (and they 
gather the same impression from books on the subject) 
" that the parenthesis is read in faster time than the 
rest of the sentence." — That this is a gross mistake as 
to certain kinds of parentheses, I will proceed to show. 

Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by 
Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from 
the dead ;) 

And all the brethren which are with me, unto the 
churches of Galatia. — Gal. 1 : 6. 

Is the fact that Paul and the brethren with him 
speak unto the churches of Galatia, of more import- 
ance, than the fact that Paul is " not of men, neither 
by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who 
raised him from the dead \ " " Certainly not," you 
say, " it is of less importance than the parenthesis." 
In that case, do you convey your mental valuation of 
the important parenthesis by reading it in faster time 
than the main text ? You do not ; but by reading it 
in much " slower " time than the lines immediately 
preceding and succeeding it, you at once indicate the 
mental value Avith which you regard it, or in other 
words, its superiority in importance to the main text. 
Another example : 

7 But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of 
the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel 
of the circumcision was unto Peter ; 

8 (For he that wrought effectually in Peter to the 
apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in 
me toward the Gentiles :) 



30 TIME. 

9 And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to 
be pillars, perceived the grace that was given nnto me, 
they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellow- 
ship ; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto 
the circumcision. — Gal. 2 : 5, 7-9. 

That the same mighty God was as effectual in Paul, 
as in Peter, being manifestly of greater importance 
than the main text, the 8th v. will be properly " valued" 
by a rendering in " slower time." 

And here is a still more forcible example : — 

4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love 
wherewith he loved us, 

5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us 
together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved ;) 

6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit to- 
gether in heavenly places in Christ Jesus : — Ephes., ch. 2. 

The beautiful parenthesis, " By grace ye are saved," 
has its full meaning and value given, when read twice 
as slowly as the main text. The practice that many 
have, of reading the parenthesis in faster time, would 
in this case argue an absolute making light, or little, 
of the " saving grace." 

The rule, then, as regards the duration of "time" 
in rendering the parenthesis is : " The parenthesis is 
seacl in slower time, when superior, and faster, when 
inferior, in importance to the main text. • 

In the subjoined example we have two parentheses ; 
the first, "Whereto the rather shall his day's hard 
journey soundly invite him," being inferior, requires 
the faster time. 



TIME. ol 

The second, "When we have marked with blooc] 
those sleepy two of his own chamber, and used their 
very daggers " is superior to the rest of the passage, 
and consequently is read in slower time. 

Macbeth. If we should fail, 

Lady Macb. We fail ! 
But screw your courage to the sticking-place, 
And we'll uot fail. When Duncan is asleep, 
(Whereto the rather shall his day's hard journey 
Soundly invite him,) his two chamberlains 
Will I with wine and wassel so convince, 
That memory, the warder of the brain, 
Shall be a fume, and the receipt of reason 
A limbeck only. When in swinish sleep 
Their drenched natures lie, as in a death, 
What cannot you and I perform upon 
The unguarded Duncan ? what not put upon 
His spongy officers, who shall bear the guilt 
Of our great quell ? 

Macb. Bring forth men-children only ! 
For thy undaunted metal should compose 
Nothing but males. Will it not be received, 
(When we have mark'd with blood those sleepy two 
Of his own chamber, and used their* very daggers,) 
That they have done't '? 

Towards the end of Hamlet's long speech at the 
conclusion of Act 2, Sc. 2, occurs the lines — 

" The spirit that I have seen 
May be a devil ; (and the devil hath power 
To assume a pleasing shape) : yea, and perhaps 



32 TIME. 

Out of my weakness, and my melancholy, 
(As he is Very potent with such spirits) 
Abuses me to damn me." 

Both parentheses are inferior to the main text, being 
merely reflections and repetitions of a fact or facts that 
are patent to all — the devil having power to assume a 
pleasing shape being no new fact to us nor to Hamlet ; 
and that "he is very potent" conveys no new idea. 
In each case, if read twice as fast as the lines preced- 
ing and succeeding them, the relative value of these 
inferior parentheses compared with the more import- 
ant main text is shown at once. 

In this passage from one of the " Ingoldsby Legends," 
the meaning would be extremely obscure were it not 
for the necessary changes in " time" : 

" 4 You may fancy King Charles at some court fancy ball 

2 (The date we may fix in sixteen sixty-six, 

In the room built by Inigo Jones at Whitehall, 

Whence his father the martyr 8 (as such mourned by all 

Who in his wept the laws' and the monarchy's fall) 

2 Stepped out to exchange regal robes for a pall) — 

4 You may fancy King Charles, I say, stopping the brawl 

As burst on his sight the old church of St. Paul, 

By the light of its flames now beginning to crawl 

From basement to buttress and topping its wall." 

The peculiarity here is a parenthesis within a paren- 
thesis ; the whole of the longer one, -with the exception 
of the one contained, being inferior, while the interpo- 
lation is superior to the preceding and succeeding lines. 
To mark the relative value of main text and the infe- 



TIME. 33 

rior and superior parentheses, I have placed the figures 
« ±n ft 2 ? " « g » i n their respective places. No. 4 indi- 
cates the ordinary time in which the passage is begun ; 
No. 2, at the beginning of the inferior parenthesis, 
where the time should be twice as fast ; No. 8, at the 
commencement of the slow parenthesis, which indicates 
that it should be given twice as slowly as the lines 
read in " ordinary " or "4" time. 

As to the manner of reading in " slow" or in " fast" 
time, there is an " unnatural" and a " natural" method ; 
the first-named, which we wish, of course, to avoid, is 
commonly that of making pauses between words, for 
the purpose of attaining to a " slowness" in the render- 
ing. This is a mistake ; it is not what we do naturally 
when- we speak slowly. The " natural " method of 
speaking slowly is by dwelling on the vowel sounds in 
words for a longer or shorter interval as may be neces- 
sary. 

§1.— THE SIMILE. 

In what kind of "time" should the "simile-" be 
read 1 We employ " similes," in writing or speaking, 
for giving to the mind's eye a picture, a resemblance, 
of the thought or object described. "We indicate the 
attitude of mind toward that described, by the sort of 
comparison we make. In a word, we express either 
" approbation " or disapprobation of the thoughts or 
objects spoken of, when making use of that which we 
term a "likeness" of the thought or object. In read- 
ing, as we give that "comparison" in slower or in 
faster time than the main text, do we express either 



34 TIME. 

approbation or disapprobation, Not only so, but a 
simile should be isolated by a pause before the word 
introducing tbe comparison, and another pause at the 
conclusion ; for the simile is a picture of the thought, 
and a picture should be entire— presented on one 
piece of canvas — not the girl dipping her pitcher 
represented on one side of the room, and the well 
from which she draws her water, on another. Word- 
painting, like color-painting, must present a thought 
complete. 

Sometimes a number of similes follow one another, 
to each of which the thought or object is compared ; 
but each one is a picture in itself, and should be pre- 
sented as such by isolating it from' the main text ; 
yet, by a delicate attention to time, the various similes 
can be presented, as a series of pictures referring to a 
special thought are in an art-gallery ; they should be 
read carefully, and in quick and close proximity, yet 
kept distinct from each other. 

The aesthetic principle of time, as applied to elocu- 
tion, is this: naturally, in giving expression to 
thoughts of approbation, of importance, of superiority, 
etc., etc, taste directs us to speak in slower time; 
we all do this, most of us not noticing that we do so. 
The same rule of taste which compels the slower time 
in these cases, requires faster' time when describing 
thoughts the opposite of these — disapprobation, unim- 
portance, inferiority, etc. 

Some persons make it a rule to read the " simile " 
in slower time indiscriminately. This is an error, as 
an illustration will show : " Though I speak with the 



TIME. 35 

tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I 
am become — as sounding brass or a tinkling- cymbal." 
— 1 Cor. 13 : 1. Observe, that by reading this simile 
in slower time than the main text, the ear is misled 
into dwelling upon the importance of the " sounding 
brass and tinkling cymbal ;" you would indicate, as it 
were, approbation, instead of the disapprobation, 
which is plainly the writer's intention. By isolating 
the simile, by reading it as a unit throughout, and in 
time twice as fast as the remainder of the passage, you 
convey the author's disapprobation of those who are 
as " sounding brass," etc., through lack of charity. 

Superficial readers, having made themselves familiar 
with this principle of time, must not be betrayed into 
reading in slower time certain similes, simply because 
of those similes being beautiful in themselves, when 
they are compared to the subject merely to show dis- 
approbation, as in Hosea 13 : 3 : 

" Therefore they shall be fas the morning cloud! and fas 
the early dew that passeth away]." 

After Israel's sins he is to be punished by passing 
away as quickly as the morning cloud or the early 
dew ; but careless readers are apt to glance only at 
the beauty of the " morning cloud," the sweetness of 
the " early dew," not regarding the reason for making 
the comparison, which is that Israel's course shall be 
as short, as fleeting as they. The disapprobation is 
immediately indicated by the faster time in which both 
similes should be read. The remainder of the com- 
parisons in the same verse— 



§6 TIME. 

" As the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of 
the floor, and fas the smoke out of the chimney] " — 

are, it is at once perceived, disapprobatory. 

Hosea 14 : 5, 6, 7, furnish similes of approbation, 
and immediately does the beautiful rendering of them 
in " slow " time portray the mercy that God is now 
disposed to show to Israel : 

" I will be fas the dewl unto Israel, he shall grow fas 
the lily] and cast forth his roots fas Lebanon!. His 
branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be fas the 
olive tree,]" etc., etc. 

In Psalm 1:3: 

"And he shall be Qike a tree planted by the rivers of 
water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season]; his 
leaf also shall mot wither] ; and whatsoever he cloeth 
shall prosper." 

That lie w r ho practices " goodness " shall be rewarded 
is intimated by the slow time of the simile, before the 
hearer's understanding grasps the meaning of the 
words. In verse 4 an opposite result is attained by 
the rapidity of rendering : 

" 4 The ungodly are not so, but are f 2 like the chaff which 
the wind driveth away] 

In Proverbs 1 : 9 the usual introductory " as " or 
"like," before the simile, is understood ; so that the 
distinct pause comes directly before the simile itself : 



TLSIE. 37 

"For they shall be tan ornament of grace unto thy 
head! and [chains about thy neck].'' 

The comparative littleness of all earthly things in the 
eyes of God is in the same manner expressed by the 
change to fast time : 

"Behold the nations are fas a drop of a bucket! ; and are 
counted fas the small dust of the balance! ; behold he 
taketh up the isles [as a very little thing!. 

A simile which is used in describing that which we 
admire, is naturally given in slower time than the 
remainder of the text ; those also that picture the 
grand, the sublime, the majestic, the solemn, the 
beautiful, the holy, love (in the better sense), etc. In 
each case this slowness intimates approbation. Sim- 
iles portraying their opposites, dislike, the despicable, 
the tawdry, the ridiculous, the mean, the superficial, 
the hideous, the ugly, the unholy, sensuality, etc., 
require the faster time, which indicates disapprobation 
even before the peculiar meaning of the words has 
penetrated to the brain of the hearer at all. In each 
case the writer's (or supposed speaker's) purpose is 
understood to be depicted, pointing out his approba- 
tion or disapprobation, not yours. 

It is evident from the preceding exposition that 
these changes in time cannot be too highly valued. 
In listening to the reading of others, we have no 
leisure for examining the author's special meaning ; 
the memory may retrace its steps but for a fleeting 
instant. Poetry gives us constant inversions of 
phrases and sentences, and for depicting the relation- 



38 TIME. 

ship of words or sentences thus treated, a uniformly 
slow or fast time would be entirely inadequate. Judi- 
cious pauses on the part of the reader, and again the 
careful connection of lines or sentences, are required 
to give the author's meaning. 

Wolsey, the "bright and shining light," finds that 
he is to be extinguished as suddenly as is the " bright 
exhalation in the evening ;" his deprecation of such 
ending, and the ignominy attendant, are fitly de- 
scribed by the rapid " time " in which the simile is 
spoken. 

Nay, then, farewell ! 
I have touch'd the highest point of all my greatness ; 
And, from that full meridian of my glory, 
I haste now to my setting : I shall fall 
[Like a bright exhalation in the evening], 
And no man see me more. — Henry VIII. 

"As rolls a thousand waves to a rock, so Swaran's 
host came on ; as meets a rock a thousand waves, so 
Inisfail met Swaran." — Fingal, Book I. 

The second simile is of approbation — plainly the 
slow time will show that unimpregnable nature of the 
stand of Inisfail ; and the faster time on the first com- 
parison portrays the impotent fury of Swaran's host. 

The music was Qike the memory of joys that are 
past^ pleasant and mournful to the soul. — Ossian. 

The simile is given with approbation. 

Queen. What, is my Richard both in shape and mind 
Transform'd, and weakenVl ? Hath Bolingbroke 



TIME. 39 

Deposed thine intellect ? Hath he been in thy heart ? 

[The lion, dying, thrusteth forth his paw, 

And wounds the earth, if nothing else, with rage 

To be o'erpower'd ;1 and wilt thou, pupil-like, 

Take thy correction mildly ? kiss the rod ; 

And fawn on rage with base humility 

Which art a lion, and a king of beasts ? 

— Richard II 

The queen's approbation of the lion's daring effort 
at revenge, though impotent, is indicated by the slow- 
ness of time in which we give the sentence as far as 
" o'erpowered ;" then, her disapprobation of Richard's 
" kissing the rod " is shown by rapidity. A principle 
of intonation is particularly exemplified here. It is 
explained under the section, " Inflections of Voice." 

" Sorrow flike a cloud on the sun! shades the soul of 
Dessamoor." — Ossian. 

If the image describes that which, is disagreeable or 
irksome, as it does in this instance, faster time is re- 
quired in rendering it. 

In the following the simile is not beautiful, but it 
describes exactly the bitter medicine which carries 
health with it, and consequently something that is 
good for us : 

" Sweet are the uses of adversity, which, 
[Like the toad ugly and venomous, 
Wears yet a precious jewel in his headV 

In Richard IT ? Act 1, Scene 4, the similes are of 



40 



TIME. 



approbation, though, at a casual glance one might 
suppose the contrary : 

G-arcl They are ; and Bolingbroke 
Hath seized the wasteful king. — Oh ! what pity is it, 
That he had not so trimm'd and dress'd his land, 
[As we this garden ? We at time of year 
Do wound the bark, the skin of our fruit-trees ; 
Lest, being over-proud with sap and blood, 
With too much riches it confound itself 1 : 
Had he done so to great and growing men, 
They might have lived to bear, and he to taste 
Their fruits of duty. fAU superfluous branches 
We lop away, that bearing boughs may live :1 
Had he done so, himself had borne the crown, 
Which waste of idle hours hath quite thrown down. 

A simile of approbation. In this (as in the preced- 
ing example) is illustrated the principle of " Inflec- 
tion " I have mentioned. 

As the bright stars and milky way, 
Showed by the night, are hid by day, 
So we in that accomplished mind 
(Helped by the night) new graces And, 
Which by the splendor of her view 
Dazzled before, we never knew. 

— Whiter. 

Vio. A blank, my lord. She never told her love, 
But let concealment, Qike a worm i' the budl, 
Feed on her damask cheek : she pined in thought ; 
And, with a green and yellow melancholy, 



TIME. 41 

She sat like CPatience on a monument!, 
Smiling at grief. Was not this love, indeed ? 
We men may say more, swear more : but, indeed, 
Our shows are more than will ; for still we prove 
Much in our vows, but little in our love. 

—Twelfth Night. 

Both similes bere require the faster time. 

In the next example the simile begins at " Even," 
and ends at " tongue ;" it should be read as a unit, 
and the spirit of the passage requires "fast" time. 

North. How doth my son, and brother ? 
Thou tremblest ; and the whiteness in thy cheek 
Is apter than thy tongue to tell thy errand. 
/ Even such a man, so faint, so spiritless, 
t So dull, so dead in look, so wo-begone, 
/ Drew Priam's curtain in the dead of night, 
/And would have told him, half his Troy was burn'd ; 
\ But Priam found the fire, ere he his tongue, 
And I my Percy's death, ere thou report'st it. 
This thou wouldst say, — " Your son did thus, and thus; 
Your brother, thus ; so fought the noble Douglas y" 
Stopping my greedy ear with their bold deeds : 
But in the end, to stop mine ear indeed, 
Thou hast, a sigh to blow away this praise, 
Ending with — brother, son, and all are dead. 

—Part 2, Henry IV. 

In this, Iliad xx. 569, the " Hero" is greatly elevated 
by the comparison ; slow time is appropriate. 



42 TIME. 

" CAs when a flame the winding valley fills, 
And runs on crackling shrubs between the hills, 
Then o'er the stubble, up the mountain flies, 
Fires the' high woods and blazes to the skies, 
This way and that the spreading torrent roars! ; 
So sweeps the hero through the washed shores. 
Around him, wide, immense destruction pours, 
And earth is deluged with the sanguine showers." 

In the lines that follow, the simile gives us an idea 
of the grandeur of Hector's valor. Slowness of time 
is then necessary for correct interpretation. 

" Thus breathing death in terrible array, 

The close compacted legions urged their way; 

Fierce they drove on, impatient to destroy; 

Troy charged the first, and Hector first of Troy. 

[As from some mountain's craggy forehead torn, 

A rock's round fragment flies; with fury borne 

(Which from the stubborn stone a torrent rends) 

Precipitate the pond'rous mass descends; 

From steep to steep the rolling ruin bounds, 

At every shock the crackling wood resounds ! 

Still gathering force, it smokes; and urged amain, 

Whirls, leaps, and thunders down impetuous to the plain; 

There stops] — so Hector. Their whole force he proved; 

Resistless when he raged; and when he stopt, unmoved." 

The " ridiculous " is pointed out by the faster time 
in which this comparison is read : 

" Helas ! 1' am our m'a pris 
tComme le chat fait la sourisV 



TIME. 43 

In Longfellow's charming poem — Evangeline, are 
found numerous fine examples. I append a few : 

The murmuring pines and the hemlocks 
Bearded with moss, and with garments green, indistinct 

in the twilight 
Stand [like druids of old, with voices sad and prophetic!, 
Stand like harpers hoar with beards that rest on their 

bosoms^, 
Loud from its rocky caverns the deep-voiced neighboring 

ocean 
Speaks, and in accents disconsolate answers the wail of 
the forest. 

* * * * jy£ en wnose ii ves glided on — [like rivers 
that water the woodlands! * * * * Scattered, — 
[like dust and leaves!, etc. * * * * When she had 
passed it seemed — [like the ceasing of exquisite music! 

* * * * Sweet was her breath — [as the breath of 
kine that feed in the meadows! * * * * Stalworth 
and stately in form was the man of seventy winters ; 
Hearty and hale was he, tan oak that is covered with 
snowflakes!. * * * * Bent, [like a laboring oar that 
toils in the surf of the ocean!, Bent, (but not broken) by 
age was the form of the notary public ; * * * * 
Silently one by one, in the infinite meadows of heaven, 
Blossomed the lovely stars — [the forget-me-nots of the 
angels!. * * * * And as she gazed from the win- 
dow, she saw serenely the moon pass forth from the folds 
of a cloud, and one star follow her footsteps — [as out of 
Abraham's tent young Ishmael wandered with Hagar! ! 

$: :& - $ * * * * 

"Prisoners now I declare you; for such is his Majesty's 
pleasure ! 



44 TIME. 

[As when the air is serene in the sultry solstice of sum- 
mer 

Suddenly gathers a storm, and the deadly sling of the 
hailstones 

Beats down the farmer's corn in the field and shatters his 
windows, 

Hiding the sun and strewing the ground with thatch 
from the house-roofs; 

Bellowing fly the herds, and seek to break their inclo- 
suresl ; 

So on the hearts of the people descended the words of the 



For practising the rendering of the simile I would 
specially recommend Shelley's " Skylark," Milton's 
" Paradise Lost," Book I, 331 ; Book IV, 178 ; Book 
III, 540 ; Book IY, 797, and many other passages from 
the same poem. Longfellow's " Evangeline " may be 
studied from the beginning to the end for this practice. 
Many of the psalms afford excellent illustrations. In 
some of Willis's sacred poems the reader may find 
charming examples of the "simile"; I will mention 
" Jairus' daughter," "The Leper," and " Absalom" as 
being among the best for the purpose. 

§2.— THE QUOTATION. 

When the quotation is superior in importance to the 
main text, we give it in slower " time" ; if it is inferior 
to that going before, and coming after, we read it more 
rapidly. The quotation is, of course, always faster 
when intended for " disparagement," whether superior 
to the main text or not. Whether the quotation be 






TIME. 45 

directly illustrative, or only indirectly, it is marked by 
change in time (and a corresponding change of voice, 
or tone). 

To illustrate, take the following from the second 
chapter of Matthew : 

1 ~Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in 
the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men 
from the east to Jerusalem, 

2 Saying, " Where is he that is born King of the 
Jews ? for we have seen his star in the east, and are 
come to worship him." 

3 When Herod the king had heard these things, he 
was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 

4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and 
scribes of the people together, he demanded of them 
" where Christ should be born." 

5 And they said unto him, " In Bethlehem of Judea : 
for thus it is written by the prophet," 

6 " And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not 
the least among the princes of Juda : for out of thee 
shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel." 

7 Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise 
men, enquired of them diligently "wliat time the star 
appeared. " 

8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, " Go and 
search diligently for the young child ; and when ye have 
found him, bring me word again, that I may come and 
worship him also." 

A " retarded time " is natural in describing the mar- 
velous. See section on Wonder, etc. 



46 



TIME. 



9 When they had heard the king, they departed ; and, 
lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, 
till it came and stood over where the young child was. 

10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceed- 
ing great joy. 

11 And when they were come into the house, they saw 
the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, 
and worshipped him : and when they had opened their 
treasures, they presented unto him gifts ; gold, and 
frankincense, and myrrh. 

12 And being warned of God in a dream that they 
should not return to Herod, they departed into their own 
country another way. 

13 And when they were departed, behold, the angel of 
the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, " Arise, 
and take the young child and his mother, and nee into 
Llgypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word : for 
Herod will seek the young child to destroy him." 

14 When he arose, he took the young child and his 
mother by night, and departed into Egypt : 

15 And was there until the death of Herod : that it 
might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the 
prophet, saying, " Out of Egypt have I called my son." 

16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of 
the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and 
slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all 
the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, accord- 
ing to the time which he had diligently enquired of the 
wise men. 

IT Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by 
Jeremy the prophet, saying, 

18 "In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, 



TIME. 47 

and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for 
her children, and would not be comforted, because they 
are not. 

19 But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the 
Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 

20 Saying, " Arise, and take the young child and his 
mother, and go into the land of Israel : for they are 
dead which sought the young child's life." 

21 And he arose, and took the young child and his 
mother, and came into the land of Israel. 

22 But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in 
Judea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to 
go thither : (notwithstanding, being warned of God in 
a dream,) he turned aside into the parts of Galilee. 

23 And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth : 
that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the pro- 
phets, " He shall be called a Nazarene." 

The quotation in this chapter (both direct and indi- 
rect) I have marked with inverted commas ; they are 
all superior quotations, with the exception of those 
from Herod, whose motives in asking certain ques- 
tions and in giving certain commands it is natural to 
disparage ; these latter are rendered in faster time. 

Many persons do not distinguish at all between the 
ordinary time of the main text and that of the quota- 
tion. I have heard people read these verses who 
seemed to regard the fact of John's unfashionable 
preference for a "garment of camel's hair and a 
leathern girdle," of equal importance with that which 
he preached : " Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven 
is at hand ; for this is he that was spoken of by the 



4:8 TIME. 

prophet Esaias, saying, ' The voice of one crying in the 
wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his 
paths straight.' " That John should be contented with 
plain " locusts " and " wild honey " they would appear 
to regard with as much astonishment (as far as any 
change in time is concerned), as the miraculous open- 
ing of the heavens and the " Spirit of God " descend- 
ing like a dove upon Jesus, when John baptized him. 

See the reading of the "marvellous" chapter. 

In James 1 : 13 occurs the supposed quotation " I 
am tempted of God," which James certainly intends 
to disparage ; his intention is effectually indicated by 
a change to fast time when reading it. Pupils will 
please remember, that the change in " time " must be 
distinguished by a change of " voice " : 

13 Let no man say when he is tempted, " I am tempted 
of God ": for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither 
tempt eth he any man. 

In the third verse of the second chapter of James 
there are two quotations ; the first is superior — there 
can be no objection to courtesy shown to the rich nor 
to any one ; James disparages the contempt shown to 
the poor, by those who say to them, " Stand thou 
there, or sit here under my footstool " : 

3 And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay 
clothing, and say unto him, " Sit thou here in a good 
place ;" and say to the poor, "Stand thou there, or sit 
here under my footstool." 



We find a superior quotation in Rev. 22 : 6, 7; 






TIME. 49, 

reading also the first line of the eighth to show the 
change to ordinary time. 

6 And he said unto me, " These sayings are faithful 
and true : and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent 
his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must 
shortly be done. 

7 " Behold, I come quickly : blessed is he that keepeth 
the sayings of the prophecy of this book." 

8 And I John saw these things, and heard them. 

In Matt., ch. 4, there are examples of " fast " and 
" slow " quotations ; the pupil should be required to 
read these verses, marking very carefully the change 
of time on each quotation, and the subsequent return 
to the main text ; not forgetting that a change in time 
necessitates a change of tone : 

1 Then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilder- 
ness to be tempted of the devil. 

2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, 
he was afterward an hungered. 

Disparagement. Fast Time. 

3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, " If 
thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be 
made bread." 

Superior Quo. Slow Tim?. 

4 But he answered and said, " It is written, Man shall 
not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceed- 
eth out of the mouth of God." 

5 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and 
setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple. 

3 



50 TIME. 

Disparagement. Fast Time. 

6 And saith unto him, " If thou be the Son of God, 
cast thyself down : for it is written, He shall give his 
angels charge concerning thee : and in their hands they 
shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot 
against a stone." 

Superior Quo. Slow Time. 

7 Jesus said unto him, "It is is written again, Thou 
shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." 

8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding 
high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the 
world, and the glory of them ; 

Disparagement. Fast Time. 

9 And saith unto him, " All these things will I give 
thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me." 

Superior Quo. Slow. Time. 

10 Then saith Jesus unto him, " Get thee hence, Satan : 
for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, 
and him only shalt thou serve." 

11 Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came 
and ministered unto him. 

Matt. 7 : 4, a quotation of disparagement : 

4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, " Let me pull 
the mote out of thine eye " ; and, behold, a beam is in 
thine own eye ? 

A quotation of disparagement. Ex., Matt., eh. 6. 
31 Therefore take no thought, sayinsr, " What shall we 



TIME. 51 

eat ? or, What shall we drink ? or, Wherewithal shall 
we be clothed ? " 

32 ( For after all these things do the Gentiles seek : ) for 
your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all 
these things. 

Matt. 7 : 22, 23, displays examples of each, the first 
of disparagement, the second of superiority : 

22 Many will say to me in that day, "Lord, Lord, have 
we not prophesied in thy name ? and in thy name have 
cast out devils ? and in thy name done many wonderful 
works ? " 

23 And then will I profess unto them, " I never knew 
you ; depart from me, ye that work iniquity." 

In Matt., ch. 8, we have the beautiful story of the Cen- 
turion. How truly do we mark the simple faith in 
Jesus' almighty power by the slow rendering of the 
quotation in the sixth verse ! and again, the Centu- 
rion's admirable humility (that virtue so dear to 
Jesus), by reading in slow time the quotation of the 
eighth verse. Then is the Lord's approbation of such 
faith and humility properly depicted to the mind's 
eye, by the slow time given to the quotations from the 
tenth and thirteenth verses : 

5 And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there 
came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, 

6 And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of 
the palsy, grievously tormented. 

7 And Jesus saith unto him, " I will come and heal 
him." 



52 TIME 

8 The centurion answered and said, " Lord, I am not 
worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof : but 
speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed." 

:]< ^ sj« sf: % # ^ ^ % 

10 When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them 
that followed, " Verily I say unto you, I have not found 
so great faith, no, not in Israel." 

13 And Jesus said unto the centurion, " Go thy way ; 
and as thou hast believed so be it done unto thee." And 
his servant was healed in the selfsame hour. 

It is necessary in each case to mark the change in 
"time" by reading a few words or lines preceding the 
quotation, and also a few words or lines coming after 
it. For practising the " time " of quotations, paren- 
thesis, similes, etc., this observance is indispensable. 

In the annexed examples, Matt., ch. 12, the Evan- 
gelist quotes the Pharisees disparagingly : 

10 And, behold, there was a man which had his hand 
withered. And they asked him, saying, "Is it lawful 
to heal on the sabbath days ? " that they might accuse 
him. 

11 And he said unto them, "What man shall there be 
among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into 
a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and 
lift it out ? 

12 "How much then is a man better than a sheep? 
Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days." 

13 Then saith he to the man, " Stretch forth thine 
hand." And he stretched it forth ; and it was restored 
whole, like as the other. 



TIME. 53 

In the eleventh verse the " wave of the voice " — a 
natural principle explained nnder the heading, " In- 
flections of Voice " — is illustrated. Briefly, I will say, 
in passing, that these vacillating inflections answer to 
mental vacillations, the mind vacillating between the 
illustration and the object or subject it illustrates. 
In this case the illustration begins with the words, 
" What man shall there be among you," etc., ending 
with " lift it out " ; the truth to which the illustration 
points being that " it is lawful to do good on the sab* 
bath day." The direction of the " wave " may be thus 
illustrated : ^ ^ w <— ^ ^. The " wave," you 
perceive, has not the force of the circumflex, ^ ^ 
nor the directness and energy of the upward and 
downward inflections, ' \. 

§ 3.— THE METAPHOR. 

A metaphor is the application of a word in some 
other than its ordinary use, on account of some re- 
semblance between the functions of the two objects ; 
thus, the President is said to be the " head " of the 
Republic because the head is the chief part of the 
body. The metaphor differs from the simile in form 
only ; substantially they are the same. In the simile, 
the two subjects — that which is spoken of, and that to 
which it is compared — are quite distinct in expression 
as well as in thought ; in the metaphor the two sub- 
jects are not distinct in form ; the literal is carried 
directly into the metaphorical ; yet, as there is neces- 
sarily a " break " in the thought between the literal 
and the metaphorical, and as we wish to read thoughts, 



54 TIME. 

not forms, or words only, there should be a correspond- 
ing " break " in the expression or rendering of the 
thought. 

For instance, in the third chapter of Habakkuk, 
sixth verse : 

" He stood — and measured the earth : he beheld — and 
drove asunder the nations : and the everlasting mount- 
ains — were scattered, the perpetual hills — did bow : his 
ways are everlasting." 

" He stood " is or may be taken literally, but that 
literally he measured the earth with a "measure" 
would be absurd; "measured," then, is used in a 
metaphorical sense ; the break in the " thought " is 
after the word stood, as the metaphor then begins. 

He beheld — a break in thought — and drove asun- 
der the nations ; and the everlasting mountains — break 
in thought — were scattered ; the perpetual hills — 
thought — did bow : "his ways are everlasting" — this 
last is, of course, all literal, and as such should be ren- 
dered. 

" Then — shall the moon be — confounded, and the sun — 
ashamed when the Lord of Hosts shall reign in Mount 
Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his Ancients glori- 
ously."— Isaia h 24 : 23. 

After pronouncing the words, "Then the moon 
shall be," the mind reflects for an instant, in order to 
grasp a metaphorical image, which shall most keenly 
present the moon's change in appearance; no feeling 
presents a greater change in the human countenance 



TIME. 55 

than that of being utterly confounded, so that the 
mind instantly seizes upon a word which at once 
describes change of appearance in the animate object, 
and applies it to the inanimate. In the next line, in 
like manner, the predicted alteration in the sun's face 
is ascribed to " shame," an emotion which creates a 
marked difference of appearance in sentient beings, 
and so will most aptly describe the change in the 
sivn. 

In the following lines from the first part of Henry 
IV., Act 5, Sc. 9, Prince Henry assumes that glory and 
honor are a garland of flowers : 

Hotspur, — Nor shall it, Hany, for the hour is come 
To end the one of us. And 'would to God, 
Thy name in arms were now as great as mine ! 
Prince Henry. — I'll make it greater, ere I part from 
thee ; — 
— And all the budding honours on thy crest 
I'll crop, to make a garland for my head. 

In the next from " Cymbeline," Act 3, Sc. 3, the 
break in the thought is after " I," in the sixth line. 
A man who had acquired great reputation and honors 
is supposed to be a tree loaded with fruit : 

Belarius. O boys, this story the world, 
May read in me : my body's marked 
With Roman swords ; and my report was once 
First with the best of note : Cymbeline loved me ; 
And when a soldier was the theme, my name 
Was not far off : Then was I, — as a tree, 



56 TIME. 

Whose boughs did bend with fruit : but in one night 
A storm, or robbery, call it what you will, 
Shook down my mellow hangings, nay, my leaves, 
And left me bare to weather." 

In Kichard II., Act 1, Sc. 2, the first break in the 
thought is after the word " were " — when the mind 
seizes upon the metaphorical idea of Edward's being a 
tree, and his sons — seven fair branches, one of which 
has been cut down and his leaves all withered, etc., 
etc. The pause then comes after the w T ord " were." 

JDuch. Finds brotherhood in thee no sharper spur? 
Hath love in thy old blood no living fire ? 
Edward's seven sons, whereof thyself art one, 
Were — as seven phials of his sacred blood, 
Or seven fair branches springing from one root ; 
Some of those seven are dried by nature's course, 
Some of those branches by the destines cut : 
But Thomas, my dear lord, my life, my Gloster, — 
One phial full of Edward's sacred blood, 
One flourishing branch of his most royal root, — 
Is crack'd, and all the precious liquor spilt ; 
Is hack'd down, and his summer leaves all faded, 
By envy's hand, and murder's bloody axe. 

In the following illustration the mind is first occu- 
pied with the metaphor " There is a tide," by whicli 
he intends depicting the fortunate turning-point of 
man's career ; a pause, and then the literal — li in the 
affairs of men " (a break in the thought, which, of 
course, requires a pause) ; then the metaphor is again 



TIME. 57 

taken up and held uninterruptedly to the close ; human 
life is here supposed to be a " voyage at sea." 

Bru. Under your pardon. — You must note beside, 
That we have tried the utmost of our friends, 
Our legions are brim-ful, our cause is ripe : 
The enemy, increaseth every day ; 
We, at the height, are ready to decline. 
There is a tide — in the affairs of men, — 
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune ; 
Omitted, all the voyage of their life 
Is bound in shallows, and in miseries. 
On such a full sea are we now afloat ; 
And we must take the current when it serves, 
Or lose our ventures. 

— Julius Ccesar, Act 4, Sc. 3. 

The next is from Fingal; I have placed a little 
dash between the literal and metaphorical to mark the 
pause. 

" Blessed be thy soul, thou king of shells ! said Swaran 
of the dark-brown shield. In peace thou art — the gale of 
spring ; in war — the mountain storm. Take now my 
hand in friendship, thou noble kiig of Morven !" 

In the following lines the literal thought stops after 
" state of man"; the metaphor is then carried on, until 
the word "falls" has been pronounced, when the 
thought breaks, and the literal is resumed on " as I 

do." 

Wol. So farewell to the little good you bear me. 
Farewell, a long farewell, to all my greatness ! 



58 TIME. 

This is the state of man ; — to-day he puts forth 
The tender leaves of hope, to-morrow blossoms. 
And bears his blushing honors thick upon him : 
The third day, comes a frost, a killing frost ; 
And (when he thinks, good easy man, full surely 
His greatness is a ripening) nips his root, 
And then he falls, — as I do. I have ventured, 
Like little wanton boys that swim on bladders, 
This many summers in a sea of glory ; 
But far beyond my depth : my high-blown pride 
At length broke under me ; and now has left me, 
Weary, and old with service, to the mercy 
Of a rude stream, that must for ever hide me. 
Vain pomp, and glory of this world, I hate ye ; 
I feel my heart new opened : O, how wretched 
Is that poor man, that hangs on princes' favors ! 
There is, betwixt that smile we would aspire to, 
That sweet aspect of princes, and their ruin, 
More pangs and fears than wars or women have ; 
And when he falls, he falls [like Lucifer! , 
Never to hope again. 

— Henry VIII. 

§ 4.— WONDER. THE MARVELLOUS. 

These we express by retarded time. If the reader 
will take the trouble to notice the " time " in whicli 
those around him speak when under the influence of 
wonder, or in relating that which they consider a mar- 
vel, he will perceive that this is a natural law. If 
this be so, as it undoubtedly is, then is it natural and 
proper to read all passages of this nature, — miraculous 
occurrences, fulfillment of prophecy, etc., etc., — in 



TIME. 59 

"time" which, as the reader or speaker goes on, be- 
comes slower, and jet slower. 

Take the following example of " wonder " from 
Matt. 9 : 8 ; I have given the seven preceding verses 
because of their containing illustrations of the quo- 
tation, given slow]y, and with disparagement. The 
retarded time begins with the 8th verse, the intervals 
of time between the words becoming longer and longer. 
When a passage has been selected for practice of the 
" retarded time," the student will graduate the inter- 
vals most carefully ; and accustom himself to express- 
ing a greater or lesser degree of wonder, according to 
the time in which he commences the passage ; and the 
degree of wonder to be expressed should determine 
that. 

1 And he entered into a ship, and passed over, and 
came into his own city. 

2 And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the 
palsy, lying on a bed : and Jesus seing their faith said 
unto the sick of the palsy : "Son, be of good cheer; thy 
sins be forgiven thee." 

3 And, behold, certain of the scribes said within them- 
selves, " This man blasphemeth." 

4 And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, " Wherefore 
think ye evil in your hearts ? " 

5 For whether is easier, to say, " Thy sins be forgiven 
thee ;" or to say, " Arise, and walk ? " 

6 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath 
power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick 
of the palsy,") " Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine 
house." 



60 TIME. 

7 And he arose, and departed to his house. 

8 But when the multitudes saw it, they marvelled, and 
glorified God, which had given such power unto men. 

The next illustration records a miracle ; it is from 
the same chapter ; in the 25th verse the miraculous 
occurrence is related : 

23 And when Jesus came into the ruler's house, and 
saw the minstrels and the people making a noise, 

24 He said unto them, "Give place : for the maid is 
not dead, but sleepeth." And they laughed him to scorn. 

Metarded Time. 

25 But when the people were put forth, he went in, 
and took her by the hand, and the maid arose. 

26 And the fame hereof went abroad into all that land. 

In the first ten verses of the 37th chapter of Ezekiel ? 
we have fulfillment of prophecy. In the 3d, 4th, and 
5th verses there are examples of the slow quotation : 

Ordinary Time. 

1 The hand of the Lord was upon me, and earned me 
out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the 
midst of the valley which was full of bones, 

2 And caused me to pass by them round about : and, 
behold, there were very many In the open valley .; and, 
lo, they were very dry. 

Slow Quotation, 

3 And he said unto me : " Son of man, can these bones 
live?" And I answered, "O Lord God, thou knowest." 



TIME. 61 

4 Again he said unto me, " Prophesy upon these hones, 
and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the 
Lord." 

Sloio Quotation, 

5 Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones : " Be- 
hold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall 
live : 

6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up 
flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath 
in you, and ye shall live ; and ye shall know that I am 
the Lord." 

Retarded Time. 

7 So I prophesied as I was commanded: Hand as I 
prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and 
the bones came together, bone to his bone. 

8 And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh 
came up upon them, and the skin covered them above : 
H but there was no breath in them. 

Ordinary Time. 

9 Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, 
prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith 
the Lord God : " Come from the four winds, O breath, 
and breathe upon these slain, that they may live." 

Retarded Time. 

10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, Hand the 
breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up 
upon their feet, an exceeding great army. 

I have placed a short perpendicular mark at the be- 
ginning of the lines requiring the retarded time ; also 
at the points where ordinary time is resumed. 



62 TIME. 

§ 3.— PARABLES. 

The parable should, as a whole, be read in faster 
time than the main text, as it is an illustration, and 
not of so much importance as the subject it illustrates. 
That which is of greater moment is the teaching or 
moral that the parable is intended to point ; and the 
teaching, consequently, must be rendered very much 
more slowly than either main text or parable. 

I append an example from St. Luke. 

12 He said therefore, — A certain nobleman went into 

a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to 

*■ — - 
return. 

13 And he called his ten servants, and delivered them 
ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come. 

14 But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after 

w . • s-/ ^ w 

him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us. 

15 And it came to pass, that when he was returned, 
having received the kingdom, then he commanded these 
servants to be called unto him, to whom he had given 
the money, that he might know how much every man had 
gained by trading. 

16 Then came the first, saying, Lord, thy pound hath 
gained ten pounds. 

17 And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant : 

because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou 

\ . \ 

authority over ten cities. 

18 And the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound hath 
gained five pounds. 



TIME. 63 

19 And he said likewise to him, Be thou also over five 
cities. 

20 And another came, saying, Lord, behold, here is 
thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin : 

21 For I feared thee, because thou art an austere man : 

y / ^ /-N ^ 

thou takest up that thou layedst not down, and reapest 
that thou didst not sow. 

22 And he saith unto him, " Out of thine own mouth 
will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest 
that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not 
down, and reaping that I did not sow : 

23 Wherefore then gavest not thou my money into 
the bank, that at my coming I might have required mine 
own with usury ? 

24 And he said unto them that stood by, " Take from 
him the pound, and give it to him that hath ten pounds." 

25 (And they said unto him, Lord, he hath ten pounds.) 

Teaching. 

26 For I say unto you, That unto every one which 
hath shall be given; and from him that hath not, even 
that he hath shall be taken away from him. 

For a second illustration I give the parable of" The 
sower and the seed," from Matthew, chap. 13 : 

1 The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat 
by the sea-side. 

2 And great multitudes were gathered together unto 
him, so that he went into a ship and sat; and the whole 
multitude stood on the shore. 



C4 TIME. 

3 And he spake many things unto them in parables, 
saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; 

4 And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way 
side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: 

5 Some fell upon stony places, where they had not 
much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they 
had no deepness of earth: 

G And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and 
because they had no root, they withered away. 

7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung 

•-^^ 

up, and choked them: 

8 But other fell into good ground, and brought forth 
fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirty- 
fokl. 

Teaching—'' Now the ' seed ' is the word of God," 
etc. 



CHAPTEE III. 
EM PHASI S. 

§ 1.— ITS PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICAL 
EXECUTION. 

CEKTALN" dynamic or creative acts of the mind 
result in the vocal phenomena which we call " em- 
phasis." A new idea or fact, one now presented for the 
first time, constitutes the emphatic word or words. The 
dominant idea in a passage is the fact which requires 
prominence. These successive new facts (or ideas) 
form as it were a chain ; each emphatic word or clause 
forms a "link" of different pattern or weight perhaps, 
but wrought into one connected and harmonious 
whole. As the missing or losing of one of its links 
would be fatal to the perfection of the chain, so the 
suppression of even one of the emphatic words or 
clauses in a sentence is most detrimental to its force 
and clearness. It follows from this that the " unem- 
phatic clause " must be that which presents no new or 
dominant fact or thought ; and although these unem- 
phatic clauses occur very frequently, their features are 
so plainly marked as always to give us fair warning 
not to give them undue prominence ; this latter being 
a fault which is the cause of apparent " weakness " in 



66 EMPHASIS. 

many passages, that properly rendered would carry 
great weight with them. 

The " characteristics " that mark the " unemphatic 
clause" are principally these — 1. Repetition; 2. An- 
ticipation/ 3. Sequence/ 4. Subordination / 5. Knowl- 
edge beforehand. 

1st. Repetition — of an idea that has already been 
presented. This is illustrated in the 1st, 2d, 3d, and 
4th verses of the 5th chapter of Daniel. 

1 Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand 
of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand. 

2 Belshazzar, while he tasted the wine, commanded 
to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father 
Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was 
in Jerusalem; that the king and his princes, his wives 
and his concubines, might drink therein. 

3 Then they brought the golden vessels that were 
taken out of the temple of the house of God which was 
at Jerusalem; and the king and his princes, his wives and 
his concubines, drank in them. 

4 They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and 
of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone. 

"Belshazzar" is the first emphatic word ; "the king" 
is a repetition of Belshazzar; it is therefore unem- 
phatic ; also, on pronouncing "Belshazzar" we antici- 
pate that it is the king of that name of whom we are 
speaking, consequently "the king" is unemphatic 
through " anticipation " as well as " repetition"; " great 
feast" is the next new fact stated, and is consequently 
emphatic ; "to a thousand of his lords" is a clause an- 



EMPHASIS. 67 

emphatic through, both anticipation and sequence ; for, 
if the king made a great feast, we anticipate that it 
was for a great number; it is unemphatic through 
sequence, for as a natural consequence of the prepara- 
tion of a " great feast " many are expected to partake, 
and the exact number, whether 999 or a thousand, is 
not of the slightest importance ; " drank wine " is the 
next new fact, and " before the thousand " is unem- 
phatic through "repetition" of an idea that has al- 
ready been presented. 

The student will proceed in like manner when ana- 
lyzing the succeeding verses. In the 2d verse the new 
facts are — " Belshazzar "" commanded to bring the 
golden and silver vessels " "which his father" "had 
taken out of the temple "; and in the last part of the 
verse the various nouns "king," "princes," "wives," 
" concubines " merely represent the pronominal " they," 
— so that after emphasizing " king " the rest are unem- 
phatic through repetition, anticipation, or sequence. 
" Therein " is the next emphatic word ; " drank " being 
a repeated fact, the new idea being that the company 
should drink "from " these sacred vessels. " While 
he tasted the wine " is unemphatic through " repeti- 
tion"; "Nebuchadnezzar," a repetition of "father"; 
"which was in Jerusalem," unemphatic through "se- 
quence" and through "knowledge beforehand" (we 
know that the sacred vessels were in the temple there). 

In the third verse the only new ideas are conveyed 
in the words "brought" and "drank," each telling of 
an accomplished fact ; the remainder of the verse is 
plainly unemphatic through " repetition." 



6% EMPHASIS. 

"And praised the gods of gold," is- the only new 
fact stated in the fourth verse. After drinking from 
the sacred vessels (which we have heard they did), 
they commit idolatry • that fact is stated by empha- 
sizing " and praised the gods of gold ;" we anticipate 
that they did not confine themselves to one particular 
metal, and we conclude, as a natural consequence of 
their falling into idolatry, and praising the gods of 
gold, that they praised those of silver, etc., also. 

A peculiarity which commands our attention in 
the fifth verse, is the concentration of the new fact in 
a single word : 

5 In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's 
hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the 
plaster of the wall of the king's palace : and the king 
saw the part of the hand that wrote. 

The ideas thus outlined are, first, the " time, 77 by em- 
phasizing "same" (this identical time); next, the 
object "fingers" (not fingers of this or that man or 
supernatural being) ; then the action " wrote," not 
the particular spot on which they wrote ; we antici- 
pate that they wrote somewhere within full view ; 
the wonder being in supernatural writing, not in the 
particular angle of wall chosen to receive it. There 
is nothing new in the candlestick or wall, but only in 
the marvelous fact that strange fingers appeared writ- 
ing mysterious words. Lastly, the king " saw " ; 
emphasis on this word implies not only the king's 
actual perceiving what was done, but also the effect it 
had upon him ; that of alarm, or interest, as the case 



EMPHASIS. 69 

may be. The uneinphatie clauses " of a man's hand" 
and " over against a candlestick upon the plaster of 
the wall of the king's palace," are so through both 
sequence and anticipation. To emphasize " the part 
of the hand that wrote " would be incorrect, first 
through "repetition" (that was the only part that 
appeared), then these words are simply equivalent 
to the pronoun " it "; and so much of this kind of 
repetition abounds that we might designate this de- 
scription of uneinphatie clause, " Pronominal repeti- 
tion." 

In the eleventh verse of this chapter — 

There is a man in thy kingdom, in whom is the spirit 
of the holy gods ; and in the days of thy father light and 
understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, 
was found in him ; whom the king Nebuchadnezzar thy 
father, the king, I say, thy father, made master of the 
magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers ; — 

occurs an example of words or clauses unemphatic 
through "subordination," the rule being that when 
two words, etc., in connection are each repeated, it is 
for the purpose of making each emphatic in turn, and 
that the second word is subordinate to the first in the 
first place, and the first word is subordinate to the 
second word in the second place. In this example, 
" king " is first emphatic (Nebuchadnezzar is a repeti- 
tion of king), and father is subordinate to king ; then, 
in the second place, " father " is emphatic, and king 
is subordinate. 



TO EMPHASIS. 

" When should a repeated word be emphasized ?" 
" When it has a new signification." 

We have, in the previous examples, dealt with sen- 
tences in which the repeated word has given us no 
new idea, but we meet with it where it has a new 
meaning ; in such cases it has all the logical power of 
a new word. Some illustrations will be the best ex- 
planation of this natural principle : 

For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased 
from this owri works, as God did from his. — Romans 
4 : 10. 

" His own," in the second line, is massed and em- 
phatic, "his" referring to man; the last "his" is also 
given with force, because of its different meaning — it 
refers to God. 

In 1 Cor. 15 : 21— 

" For since by man came death, by man came also the 

resurrection of the dead " — 

the repeated word " man," signifying the Son of God, 
requires as much emphasis as does the first man, re- 
ferring to Adam ; though with regard to the first man 
(Adam) we have the negative attitude of mind (>), 
and the " positive " (\) as to Christ. 

The following example is from 1 Kings, ch. 1 8 : 

6 So they divided the land between them to pass 
throughout it : Ahab went one way by himself, and 
Obadiah went another way by himself. 

Although the repeated word "himself" has a new sig- 



EMPHASIS. 71 

nification, the first referring to Ahab, the second to 
Obadiah, both requiring emphasis; the "ear" is 
so nice in its distinctions that where there is a 
possibility of " transfer " it will detect it, and in this 
instance, after the usual emphasis has been given to 
the first of these words, with the stress upon the last 
syllable " self," in giving the repeated emphasis to the 
second word, the transfer of the " stress " to " him " is 
both easy and natural. 

In the following example the same transfer of stress 
indicates that the first " overcome " is passive, the 
second " overcome " active : 

Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. 
— Romans 12 : 21. 

Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night 
sheweth knowledge. — Psalm 19 : 2. 

The second " day " should be as emphatic as the first 
" day " ; it is not the same but a different day that is 
meant. So with the word u night" each is emphatic 
for the same reason. 

§2.— TRANSFER. 

In John 1 : 1, the dominant thought (Christ's di- 
vinity) is brought out clearly and concisely by empha- 
sizing first " beginning " ; the first thought being that 
Christ always was. Transfer the emphasis to " God" 
to show that Christ was not only from the beginning 
but that he was always God ; and now transfer the 
emphasis to " Word" which brings to the mind's eye 



72 EMPHASIS. 

forcibly that the Word was not only with God but 
that the Wokd was God ; do not emphasize " was " — 
the weakly false emphasis that many give — by that 
you not only suppress the dominant idea that the 
" Word" Avas God, but raise in the mind unnecessary 
doubts, as " He was, but is He now % and will He 
be ? " exploring little byroads in the analysis that are 
irrelevant, and forsaking the broad road where lies the 
dominant thought. A good rule to follow, in order 
to avoid such divergence, is this : Read " ideas " in- 
stead of "words." 
In 1 Kings 18 : 21— 

" If the Lord be God follow him, but if Baal then fol- 
low him " — 

we have both " follow " and " him " repeated. What 
is the speaker's own' belief? Why, that the "Lord" 
is God ; then his positive attitude of mind as regards 
the Lord, requires the positive inflection. of voice (\) 
on that word ; it is the first new thought, and requires 
emphasis in consequence. "Follow" is the next new 
idea ; then transfer the force to " Baal" whom the 
speaker does not believe to be God, so holds a nega- 
tive attitude of mind with regard to him, which he 
shows by the negative inflection of voice ; afterwards 
comes the word "liiin" to which the emphasis is 
transferred. 

In the following example from Matt. 10 : 34 — . 

" Think not that I am come to send peace on earth : I 
came not to send peace, but a sword" — 



EMPHASIS. 73 

the new thought is made prominent by emphasiz- 
ing " peace " ; the idea next put forward is contained 
in the word which conveys the idea of what he did 
come for, viz., to send a "sword"', the mental atti- 
tude is indicated by the inflections as placed. The 
transfer is from " peace " to " sword."' 

Eeferring to the parable of the ''Prodigal Son," we 
find that " he " has been applied to the prodigal until 
we reach the word "citizen" which is emphatic, but 
"he" has been transferred from "younger son " to 
" citizen " we find when we glance at the " he " which 
follows citizen ; then should the emphasis be trans- 
ferred also. 

And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty fam- 
ine in that land ; and he began to be in want. 

And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that 
country ; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. — 
Luke 15 : 14, 15. 

An excellent example of transfer is found in He- 
brews 2 : 6, 8 : 

6 But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is 

man, that thou art mindful of him ? or the son of man, 

that thou visit est him ? 

♦ * * * * # 

8 Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. 

For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left 

nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not 

yet all things put under him. 

We have here a " slow quotation "; the emphasis is 
first on "man," then upon, "mindful"; then trans- 



74 EMPHASIS. 

fer the force to "son," and finally to "visitest." By 
transferring the force in this way, in the eighth verse, 
each new thought is brought out in sharp and perfect 
outline — a word more or a word less than is absolutely 
necessary in the emphasis renders the idea you wish 
to define obscure. The thoughts in this verse are 
clearly brought out by emphasizing successively " sub- 
jection," " all," u nothing," " see." Ideas are thus put 
forward without explanation and embellishment. 

The rule in this matter of transfer is : In all repe- 
titions of the same word, in an identical sense, transfer 
the emphasis to another word. 

§ 3.— MASSING. 

This is a deeply interesting feature of emphasis ; it 
consists of an accumulation of successive particulars, 
words or clauses, which should be given as a unit with 
one impetus. There are many and varied instances, 
in which the employment of massing is necessary, and 
although these may require somewhat different modes 
of execution, all have their mental origin as a " unit," 
and the delivery should indicate this singleness of 
feature which characterizes them. Thus in one case 
it may be an abstract quality or idea, as the omni- 
science of God : 

For the word of God [is quick, and powerful, and 
sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the 
dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and 
marrow!, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents 
of the heart. 



EMPHASIS. 75 

Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in 
his sight ; but all things tare naked and opened unto the 
eves of him with whom we have to do]. — Hebrews 4 : 
12, 13. 

Or of u universality" : 

And his fame went throughout all Syria ; and they 
brought unto him fall sick people that were taken with 
divers diseases and torments, and those which were pos- 
sessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and 
those that had the palsy] ; and he healed them. — Matt, 
4 :21. 

These examples are marked by placing a small 
bracket just above the beginning of the first word in- 
troducing the massed clauses, and another at their 
termination. 

Massed words or clauses may be of " identity," as 
found in various parts of the fifth chapter of Daniel : 

" [Peoples, nations, and languages!." 
" [Light, understanding, and wisdom!. " 
" [Astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers!." 
" Then was king Belshazzar greatly troubled : [and 
i his countenance was changed in him, and his lords were 
astonished!." 

Ezekiel 22 : 20 : 

19 Therefore thus saith the Lord God: As I live, 
surely mine oath that he hath despised, and my covenant 
that he hath broken, even it will I recompense upon his 
own head. 



76 emphasis. 

20 CAnd I will spread my net upon him, and he shall 
be taken in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, 
and will plead with him there for his trespass that he 
hath trespassed against me. 

21 And all his fugitives with all his bands shall fall 
by the sword, and they that remain shall be scattered 
toward all winds:! and ye shall know that I the Lord 
have spoken it. 

The several particulars mentioned from the begin- 
ning of the 20th verse through the word " winds " in 
the 21st verse, all refer to the " recompense," are in 
fact the recompense ; they should then be read as one 
idea, and not as several. 

In Ezekiel 18 : 20, I see a similar example of mass- 
ing the several clauses, beginning " the son shall not 
bear, etc.," all referring to the fact that each is account- 
able for his own sins : 

The soul that sinneth, it shall die. [The son shall not 
bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the fathei' 
bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the 
righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the 
wicked shall be upon himj 

In Luke 25 : 25— 

" Then he said unto them, " O fools, and [slow of heart 
to believe^ all the prophets have spoken " — 

the meaning is indicated by massing the words " slow 
of heart to believe" and giving them with the negative 



EMPHASIS. 77 

inflection of voice, which shows disapproval ; the 
words are massed, because they convey but one idea. 

§ 4.— EMPHASES BY TRANSFER. 

When a word is repeated, "transfer" the emphasis 
to another word. This is a natural process whenever 
the sense will admit of it, and it does admit of it when- 
ever the repeated word gives the same meaning as its 
predecessor. 

12 Forasmuch [as an excellent spirit, and knowledge, 
and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and shewing 
of hard sentences, and dissolving of doubts,] were found 
in the same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar: 
now let Daniel be called, and lie will shew the interpre- 
tation. 

13 Then. was Daniel brought in before the king. And 
the king spake and said unto Daniel, Art thou that 
Daniel, which art of the children of the captivity of 
Judah, whom the king my father brought out of Jewry ? 

14 I have even heard of thee, that the spirit of the 
gods is in thee, and that light and understanding and ex- 
cellent wisdom is found in thee. 

15 And now the wise men, the astrologers, have been 
brought in before me, that they should read this writing, 
and make known unto me the interpretation thereof: 
but they could not shew the interpretation of the 
thing: 

16 And I have heard of thee, that thou canst make 
interpretations, and dissolve doubts: now if thou canst 
read the writing, and make known to me the interpreta- 
tion thereof, thou shalt be clothed with scarlet, and have 



78 EMPHASIS. 

a chain of gold about thy neck, and shalt be the third 
ruler in the kingdom. 

17 Then Daniel answered and said before the king, 
Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to an- 
other; yet I will read the writing unto the king, and 
make known to him the interpretation. 

18 O thou king, the most high God gave Nebuchad- 
nezzar thy father a kingdom, and majesty, and glory, 
and honour: 

19 And for the majesty that he gave him, all people, 
nations, and languages, trembled and feared before him: 
whom he would he slew; and whom he would he kept 
alive; and whom he would he set up; and whom he 
would he put down. 

Let us analyze the above verses (from Daniel, ch. 5), 
not confining ourselves to the examples of " transfer " 
only, but taking all that are involved in each verse, 
beginning with the 12th. "Forasmuch as an excel- 
lent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, inter- 
preting of dreams, and shewing of hard sentences, and 
dissolving of doubts," all refer to one thought, that of 
surpassing wisdom ; the several clauses should there- 
fore be presented as a unit, that is, without any special 
pausing between them. "Were found in the same 
Daniel" is a clause unemphatic through anticipation. 
"Whom the kins: named Belteshazzar " is an unim- 
portant parenthesis. As Daniel has been spoken of 
all along, instead of repeating the emphasis upon 
Daniel in the next clause, transfer it to " called" 
which conveys to us the next new thought, and from 
"interpretation," which we have had before, to "he." 



EMPHASIS. 79 

" Brought in " is the first new fact in the 13th verse ; 
" spake " is next emphatic ; " and said unto Daniel," 
unemphatic through repetition. Now follows a sen- 
tence in the interrogative/br^, but the spirit of which 
is certainly assertive, as the king's subsequent words 
prove ; for he goes on to say, " I have even heard of 
thee that the Spirit of the gods^ (massed), is in thee, and 
that light, and understanding, and excellent wisdom 
is found in thee." (It will be correct either to 7)7 ass 
these last, or to consider that the idea is fully given in 
the word " light," and that the other qualities are un- 
emphatic through Sequence.) The sentence spoken of 
as being assertive, though interrogative in form, is 
treated of at length in the section on Antagonism of 
Grammatical Forms. "Is found in thee" is unem- 
phatic through " anticipation :-." In the 15th verse, 
"And now the wise men " (emphatic) ; "the astrolo- 
gers " (unemphatic through repetition) ; " read " (em- 
phatic). " Interpretation " is the next new fact, (to 
Daniel, for Daniel has not known of this before, and 
although it is not new to those who have been present 
all the time, it is new to Daniel.) The next new idea 
is contained in the negative; and that word alone re- 
quires emphasis — " But they could not show the inter- 
pretation of the thing." 16th verse — "And I have 
heard of thee that thou (transfer the emphasis from 
thee to thou) canst make interpretations, and dissolve 
doubts (unemphatic through repetition) ; now if thou 
canst (transfer the emphasis from thou to canst) read 
the writing and make known to me the interpretation 
thereof (unemphatic through repetition), thou shalt be 



80 . EMPHASIS. 

clothed (unemphatic through Sequence) with scarlet 
(a new fact, an honor, therefore emphatic), and have a 
chain of gold (emphatic, the new fact, the honor) 
about thy neck (unemphatic through Anticipation), 
and shalt be the third ruler (emphatic) in the king- 
dom " (unemphatic through sequence or anticipation). 

11th verse. " Then Daniel answered " (emphatic) 
" and said before the king" (unemphatic through repe- 
tition). " Thyself," " another," " read," and " known " 
are the remaining emphatic words in the slow quota^ 
tion as far as the end of the verse ; this quotation is, 
however, continued in the following verses. 

ISt/i verse. " O thou king, the most high God gave 
Nebuchadnezzar (emphatic) thy father" (unemphatic 
through both repetition and anticipation). " King- 
dom," "majesty," "glory," "honor," are each em- 
phatic in turn, as they are each different, and the gift 
of one of these does not presuppose any of the others. 
This may be called the converse of massing. 

19th verse. The first line is unemphatic as far as 
" people." " Nations and languages " must either be 
massed with people or be considered unemphatic, be- 
cause they repeat the idea given in the word " peo- 
ple "; " trembled " is the next emphatic word ; " feared " 
is unemphatic through anticipation ; if they trembled, 
we anticipate that fear was the emotional cause. Now 
we have a certain amount of repetition, and admitting 
that "transfer" is pleasing for the variety it imparts, 
we will find better reasons for its employ in the fol- 
lowing lines. 

" Whom he would he slew." Slew should be em- 



EMPHASIS. 81 

phatie, and in tone negative (that is, with the rising 
inflection) ; and the next new fact is conveyed in the 
word "alive" which is emphatic, and in tone positive 
(or with the falling inflection of voice — reasons given 
under the section, Positive and Negative Inflections). 
Transfer the emphasis to "whom" for this reason : 
whomsoever the person was, no matter Jiow poor or 
lowly, he was able to elevate him ; transfer the em- 
phasis, therefore, from " whom " to " would" for the 
reason that it was immaterial to him how hi^rh or 
mighty a man might be, if he willed it or ivoidd, he 
could put him down. 

In Isaiah 55 : 1, we find an example of transfer ; the 
"new idea" is found in a new word and not in the 
repeated words, of which there are a great many. The 
words requiring emphasis are " thirsteth," " come," 
"waters," "money," "buy," "wine," "without," and 
"price": 

Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, 
and he that hath no money ; come ye, buy, and eat ; yea, 
come, buy wine and milk without money and without 
price. 

The new thoughts in the following example are 
made prominent by transferring the emphasis as indi- 
cated : 

8 For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do 
not repent, though I did repent : for I perceive that the 
same epistle hath made you sorry, though it were but for 
a season. 



82 EMPHASIS. 

9 Now I rejoice, (not that ye were made sorry,) but 
that ye sorrowed to repentance : for ye were made sorry 
after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by 
us in nothing. 

10 For godly sorrow worketh [repentance to salvation^ 
not to be repented of : but the [sorrow of the world! 
worketh death. 

11 [For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed 
after a godlv sortl, what carefulness it wrought in you, 
yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, 
yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, w 7 hat 
zeal, yea, what revenge ! In all things ye have approved 
yourselves to be clear in this matter. 

12 Wherefore, though I wrote unto you. I did it not 
„ x : > ~s- y- ' y y y y 

for his cause that had done the wrong, nor for his cause 

that suffered wrong, but that our care for you in the 
sight of God might appear unto you. — 2 Cor., ch. 7. 

The massed clauses are enclosed (partially) by small 
brackets ; the negative attitude of mind with regard 
to certain thoughts by the negative inflection (y) 
above the words so regarded, whether they be em- 
phatic or not, and the positive attitude of mind as 
indicated by placing the positive or downward inflec- 
tion (\) over certain other words expressive of 
thoughts of a positive nature. All words that are 
emphatic are in italics. 



EMPHASIS. 83 



§ 5.— MENTAL PROJECTION. 

"When in the utterance of one clause the mind is 
already engaged with the succeeding one, the process 
is termed " mental projection "; and the latter clause 
is denominated " a clause unemphatic through mental 
projection "; because in the act of uttering the first 
clause the mind is employed with what is to follow, 
and persons listening surmise instantaneously what is 
to come. As an illustration— in Julius Caesar, Act 1, 
Sc. 2, Cassius says : 

" What is there in this same Caesar," etc. 

" Write them together, yours is as fair a name, 
Sound them it doth become the mouth as well, 
Weigh them it is as heavy ; conjure with them 
Brutus will start a spirit as soon as Caesar." 

Cassius, in uttering u Write them together," must be 
thinking of what he is next to say, and the mind of 
his auditor naturally reverts to the implied sequence, 
that one name looks as well as the other. So with 
the succeeding clauses : when Cassius says, " Sound 
them," the next words are immediately mentally pro- 
jected; when he says, "Weigh them," you know 
what will follow. And that there is no more of magic 
in one name than in the other you conceive the 
instant that Cassius says, " Conjure with them." 
These clauses then are unemphatic through having 
been mentally projected before they were uttered in 
so many words. 



84 EMPHASIS. 

Another example of the " clause unemphatic 
through mental projection " we take from Matt. 5 : 34, 
35,36: 

33 Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by 
them of old time, " Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but 
shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths :" 

34 But I say unto you, Swear not at all ; neither by 
heaven ; for it is God's throne : 

35 Nor by the earth ; for it is his footstool : neither 
by Jerusalem ; for it is the city of the great King. 

36 Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou 
canst not make one hair white or black. 

The 33d verse contains a quotation rendered with 
disparagement ; then comes the slower time on 
" Swear not at all ; neither by heaven," and while 
uttering the words "neither by heaven" the mind is 
naturally employed in thinking of the reason for not 
swearing by heaven — both speaker's and listener's 
minds revert at once to the sanctity of heaven as being 
the reason ; then has the clause, " for it is God's throne," 
been mentally projected, while pronouncing the words 
" neither by heaven." The 35th and 36th verses are 
analyzed in exactly the same manner: "Nor by the 
earth " (emphatic) ; " for it is his footstool " (unem- 
phatic through mental projection) : "neither by Jem-' 
salem" (emphatic); "for it is the city of the great 
King " (mentally projected). " Neither shalt thou 
swear by thy head " (emphatic), " because thou canst 
not make one hair white or black" (mentally pro- 
jected). 



EMPHASIS. 85 

The next example, besides the clauses unemphatic 
through mental projection, embraces a quotation of 
disparagement, and one that is approbatory : 

43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt 
love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. 

44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them 
that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray 
for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you ; 

45 That ye may be the children of your Father which 
is in heaven. 

In uttering the words that immediately follow the 
quotation of disparagement, "But I say unto you, 
Love," the mind at once flies to the opposite of the 
maxims inculcated in the quotation of disparagement ; 
love what then ? " your enemies," " bless (emphatic) 
them that curse you" (unemphatic, mentally project- 
ed), " do good (emphatic) to them that hate you " (un- 
emphatic, m. p.), " and pray (emphatic) for them 
which despitefully use you, and persecute you " (un- 
em.). " That ye may be the children of your Father 
which is in heaven " (emphatic). 

Another example is found in Matt. 7 : 7, 8 : 

7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall 
find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 

8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that 
seeketh hncleth; and to him that knocketh it shall be 
opened. 

The emphatic words (or new facts stated) being 



©O EMPHASIS. 

"ask," "seek," "knock"; the other clauses in that 
verse are mentally projected by each of, those words 
successively. " Receiveth," " iindeth," " it shall be 
opened" (in the 8th verse) are mentally projected 
by the clauses that immediately precede them. 

The next examples are from the 24th and 25th 
verses of Matt. 7 : 

24 * * * I will liken him unto a wise man 
which built his house upon a rock : 

25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and 
the winds blew, and beat upon that house, — 



is an example of massing, the several clauses present- 
ing one and the same idea— that of violent assault 
from the elements ; and in the utterance of that idea, 
the faculties must necessarily be engaged with the con- 
sequences of such an attack upon the house with so 
sure a foundation ; then is mentally projected the 
clause, " and it fell not, for it was founded upon a 
rock." 

In Romans 12 : 19, we find an example of the slow 
quotation ; it is given here because of its fitness in 
introducing the 20th verse containing clauses mentally 
projected, they being "feed him," and "give him 
drink." The break in the thought between the literal 
and metaphorical occurs after the word " shalt," the 
metaphor then begins.* 

* This metaphor is supposed to be taken from the melting of 
metals, by covering the ore with burning coals ; the meaning, 
" In so doing, thou wilt mollify thine enemy and bring him to feel 
kindly," etc. 



EMPHASIS. 87 

19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather 
give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is 
mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. 

20 Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he 
thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap 
coals of fire on his head. 



CHAPTER IV. 

I N FLECTIO N. 
§ 1.— GENERAL PRINCIPLES. 

INFLECTIONS of voice indicate the true place 
and standpoint of each thought ; — the mental atti- 
tude regarding certain facts or ideas ; the negative or 
positive light in which the mind views them. 

Readings, lectures, sermons, etc., are frequently 
rendered confused and obscure through ignorance of 
this important principle ; sometimes an opposite mean- 
ing from the one intended is first indicated by the 
voice, and then accepted by the mind. So unerring 
is the human ear in detecting meaning, even shades 
of meaning, by tones when they are natural (or true), 
that, without having caught the words, or been pres- 
ent to observe looks or gestures, people say, " from the 
sounds I judged that some one was angry;" or "that 
there was a quarrel, or that some one was advocating 
a certain measure " or " course of conduct," or from 
their voices I surmised that one was mercilessly con- 
demning, the other was imploring leniency, or pardon, 
or grace, or whatnot." Why are we not as instanta- 
neously convinced of the lecturer's or reader's inten- 
tion? Why is not the preacher's meaning equally evi- 



INFLECTION. 89 

dent ? It is because few of these people have studied 
what thej and all of us do naturally under given cir- 
cumstances, or conditions of feeling ; they have never 
observed the natural process of interpreting certain 
attitudes of the mind, consequently have no fixed prin- 
ciples on which to base their manner of interpreting 
any given idea. 

The positive and negative inflections of voice are 
antithetic, but these inflections, psychologically ap- 
plied, cover a far wider area of " thought " than has 
ever been accorded to antithesis. The "positive atti- 
tude " is indicated by the downward inflection (\) or 
circumflex (^), which last is a combination of the up- 
ward (V) and downward (\) inflections. The " nega- 
tive attitude" is expressed by the upward inflection 
(V) or circumflex (>*•), which is a combination of the 
downward (\) and upward (V) inflections. If any 
one will observe closely the inflections of voice 
that others use in an unstudied, unpremeditated 
way, he will perceive that what the speaker wishes 
to endorse, or to advocate, etc., will be spoken in 
positive tones ; that is, the voice takes a downward 
turn on each of the principal words in such advo- 
cated thought or idea. Beginning on a certain key 
(in pronouncing the word to be rendered positively), 
the voice travels in an inclined direction down- 
ward, and the w T ord is finished on a lower key 
than the one on wdnch it was commenced. Does 
the speaker desire to describe certain facts as un- 
favorable, certain ideas as injurious, etc., his voice 
will naturally rise (V) on the principal words; by 



90 INFLECTION. 

which upward turn of voice he indicates the " negative 
attitude " of mind. 

The reader will bear in mind that the rule for his 
guidance in this matter is that — The main purpose 
of the speaker (or supposed speaker), or author, is al- 
ways positive. The inflections of voice must be suffi- 
ciently marked to express the negative and positive 
intentions. 

A few examples of words, the signification of which 
is invariable, arranged in their respective classes of 
positives and negatives, may be useful. The few here 
mentioned are intended to serve merely as a guide: 

Positive \ . Negatice **. 

Certain. Uncertain. 

Good. Bad. 

Present. Past. 

Right. Wrong. 

Benefit. Injury. 

Favorable. Unfavorable. 

Absolute. Conditional. 
Peace. • War. 

Plenty. Famine. 

Sunshine. Storm. 

If it be the author's or the speaker's purpose to advo- 
cate or endorse any thought, feeling, or fact, which as a 
general thing would be viewed from a negative stand- 
point, then has the mental attitude towards that 
thought or fact become " positive," and should be ren- 
dered with the downward inflection (\). When it is 
the speaker's intention to denounce wrong or evil, his 



INFLECTION. 91 

words of denouncement take the positive inflection of 
voice. 

The circumflex ^ w is of service when the ordinary 
inflections (\ ^) are not considered powerful enough 
to express the required degree of positive or negative 
force. 

We give some examples illustrative of these prin- 
ciples. From Julius Caesar, Act 3, Scene 2 : 

I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him." 

w . >- \ ^ ^ 

"The evil that men do, lives after them ; the srood is 

oft interred with their bones." 

" Evil '' is strongly negative ; that it should be remem- 
bered of its perpetrators is no more than they deserve 
— positive. "Good" — positive — is forgotten; a sub- 
ject of regret, therefore negative ; the downward turn 
of voice, indicated after the negative circumflex on 
" bones," merely points to the natural cadence or fall 
of the voice at the termination of the sentence. 

" Sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish, I give my 
hand and my heart to this vote." 

" Think not that I am come to send peace on earth : I 
come not to send peace — but a sword." — Matt. 10 : 34. 

Analysis. — Peace, as a general thing, is viewed 
positively ; it is under most circumstances preferable 
to the sword ; yet here the speaker endorses " war," 



92 INFLECTION. 

and this is indicated by rendering "sword" with the 
positive inflection. 

Macbeth, Act 2, Scene 3 : 

Macb. Who can be wise, amazed, temperate, and 
furious, 
Loyal and neutral, tin a moment^ ? No man : 

Analysis. — If he were amazed and furious at sight 
of Duncan's murder, how could yon expect him to be 
at the same time wise and temperate, the antipodes of 
the former moods ? If he were loyal to Duncan, how 
could he be expected to take a neutral course ! 

2 Cor. 3:5,6: 

5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to tihink any 
thing! as of ourselves ; but our sufficiency is of God ; 

6 Who also hath made us table ministers! of the new 
testament ; not of the letter, but of the spirit : for the 
letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. 

Analysis. — That we may value onr abilities (think 
any thing — positive), but, not as originating in our- 
selves, but in God. "Who also hath made us able 
ministers " (pos.), " not of the letter (neg.) but of the 
spirit " (pos.), not of preaching only, but of practice, 
not of the mere words, but of the thoughts contained 
— " letter killeth (neg.), spirit giveth life " (pos.). 

Our next example is from York's speech, when, 
after being taken prisoner, he is railed at by Queen 



INFLECTION. 93 

Margaret ; these lines occur in the last portion of his 
answer to her. Hatred and anger are the dominant 
passions ; the tones which indicate those passions will 
be found described under the section, " Symbols of the 
Passions" 

York. * * * 

^ "^ 

Pos. 'Tis beauty, that doth oft make women proud ; 

Neg. But God, he knows, thy share thereof is small ; 
Pos. 'Tis virtue, that doth mak3 them most admired ; 

S- sS- ^ \ 

Neg. The contrary doth make thee wonder' d at ; 

Pos. 'Tis government, that makes them seem divine ; 

Neg. The want thereof makes thee abominable ; 

Neg. Thou art as opposite to every good, (Pos.) 

Neg. As the antipodes are unto us, (Pos.) 

Neg. Or as the south to the septentrion. (Pos.) 

Neg. O [tiger's hearth, wrapped in & woman's hide; (Pos.) 

Neg. How coulclst thou drain the life-blood of the child ; 
To bid the father wipe his eyes withal, 
And yet be seen to wear a icoman's face? (Pos.) 

Pos. Women are soft, mild, pitiful, and flexible ; 

Neg. Thou stern, obdurate, flinty, rough, remorseless. 

$ < 4s % ' s& * * 

— King Henry VI, Part 3. 

The positive and negative intentions are so plainly 
indicated in the preceding lines that a more lengthy 
analysis will be unnecessary. 

Isabella. " O it is excellent to have a ^giant's strength!, 
but it is tyrannous to use it like a giant ! " 



94 INFLECTION. 

" Great men may jest with saints : 'tis wit in them ; 
but in the less, foul profanation." — Measure for Measure. 

In the following lines from Tennyson, the author's 
meaning is admirably delineated by correct manage- 
ment of the positive and negative inflections ; al- 
though the sentences are in the interrogative form, 
they are not so in thought : 

" Do we indeed desire the dead 
Should still be near us at our side ? " 

The speaker evidently doubts the desire, consequently 
views the idea from a negative standpoint ; in the 
next: 

" Is there no baseness we would hide, 
No inner vileness that we dread ? " 

It is as evident that the mental attitude is positive, 
for it is virtually a declaration that because of our 
baseness and inner vileness we do not desire the dead 
to be at our side, so should be rendered thus : 

" Do we indeed desire the dead 
Should still be near us at our side ? 
Is there no baseness we would hide, 
No inner vileness that we dread ? " 

" Tell us, ye dead ! 
Will none of ye disclose the dreadful secret, 
What it is ye are and we are like to be ? " 

This last sentence or verse is what is called a " declar- 



INFLECTION. 95 

ative negative," the speaker's thought is that he 
would like the dead to disclose what it is they are and 
we are like to be (positive), but that his conviction is 
that " none " (neg.) will ever do so. 

§ 2.— FLUCTUATING INFLECTIONS. 

Great interest attends the study of the simple rising 
and falling inflection, also their combination — the cir- 
cumflex ^— s s^-j over which we have just passed. On 
turning to the one now presented for our contempla- 
tion, the student cannot fail to be delighted with the 
accuracy of the interpretation, and the promptitude 
with which it indicates the mind's departure to a new 
idea, or its divergence from the main track of thought. 
By the proper application of the fluctuating inflection 
or " wave," the author's meaning is as clearly evolved 
as are the different elements in a chemical analysis ; 
yet this delicate instrument (if we may so term it) for 
conveying " meaning " is seldom or never used by the 
readers or speakers we are accustomed to hear, unless 
they extemporize, and then " nature " (if the artificial 
has not supplanted her) will prompt its due employ- 
ment. 

The " wave " is characteristic of the " illustration "; 
the "comparison" the "episode"; — it enables the lis- 
tener to apprehend that the reader (or speaker) is inci- 
dentally departing from his main purpose or topic, 
and its cessation indicates a return to the main track 
of thought. 

Observe that the " wave " w ^ is nothing like so 



96 INFLECTION. 

pronounced as the circumflex which we use in strong 
psychological positives and negatives ; the wave w ^ 
is as potent in its effects, but of far more delicate 
calibre. Without this " fluctuating wave " certain por- 
tions of the 12th and 14th chapters of the 1st of Co- 
rinthians sound precisely as if the language were that 
of a phrenologist or a professor of physiology address- 
ing a class of students. For example : 

1 Now concerning [spiritual gifts], brethren, I would 
not have you ignorant. 

2 Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto 
these dumb idols, even as ye were led. 

3 Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man 
speaking by the [Spirit of God! calleth Jesus accursed: 
and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by 
the Holy Ghost. 

4 Now there are ^diversities of gifts], but the [same 

Spirit!. 

5 And there are ^differences of administrations'], but 
the [same Lord!. 

6 And there are ^diversities of operations], but it is the 
Uame God which worketh all in alll. 

7 But the [manifestation of the Spirit] is given to 
every man to profit withal. 

8 For to one is given (by the Spirit) the hoord of wis- 
dom} ; to another the hoord of knowledge] by the [same 
Spirit]; 

9 To another I faith} by the same Spirit; to another 
the [gifts of heeding^ by the same Spirit; 

10 To another the [working of miracles] ; to another 
I prophecy^ ; to another [discerning of spirits] ; to another 



IXFLECTIOX. 97 

[divers kinds of tongues! ; to another the [interpretation 
of tongues^ : 

11 But all these tworketh that one and the self-same 
Spirit!, dividing to every man severally as he will. 

12 For as the body is one, and hath many members, 
and all the members of that one body, being many, are 
one body: so also is Christ. 

13 For by tone Spirit! are we all baptized into [one 
body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be 
bond or free ; and have been all -made to drink into \-one 
Spirits 

14 For the body is not one member, but many. 

15 If the foot shall say, "Because I am not the hand, 
I am not of the body"; is it therefore not of the body? 

16 And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, 
I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body ? 

17 If the whole body were an eye, where were the 
hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the 
smelling ? 

18 But now hath God set the members every one of 
them in the body, as it has pleased him. 

19 And if they were all one member, where were the 
body ? 

20 But now are they many members, yet but one body. 

21 And the eye cannot say unto the hand, "I have no 
need of thee:" nor again the head to the feet, "I have no 
need of you." 

22 Nay, much more those members of the body, which 
seem to be more feeble, are necessary : 



98' INFLECTION. 

23 And those members of the body, which we think 
to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more cCoun- 
dant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abun- 
dant comeliness. 

24 For our comely parts have no need: but God hath 
tempered the body together, having given more abundant 
honour to that part which lacked: 

25 That there should be no schism in the body; but 
that the members should have the hame care one for an- 
other] . 

26 And whether tone member suffer!, all the members 
suffer with it; or [one member be honoured], all the mem- 
bers rejoice with it. 

27 Now ye are the foody of Christ], and members in 
particular. 

23 And God hath set some in the church, first apos- 
tles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that mir- 
acles, then k/ifts of healings^, helps, governments, kliver- 
sities of tonquesi. 

29 Are all apostles ? are all prophets ? are all teach- 
ers ? are all workers of miracles ? 

30 Have all the [gifts of healing] ? do all speak with 
tongues ? do all interpret ? 

31 But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I 
unto you a more excellent way. 

When the illustration begins, 12th verse, the mind 
diverges from the main thought, and those upward 
and downward turns of voice which we denominate 
the " wave " instantly telegraph the fact to the listener. 



INFLECTION. 99 

In verse 28 we have the "converse" of massing, these 
various gifts being pointed out to ns by St. Paul as 
different in themselves, yet requiring the recipients to 
act in unison, and as helpers one to another. 

For our next example we take the 14th chapter of 
Corinthians for analysis. The student will remember 
that what is desirable is the positive idea ; that which 
\% preferable as in the example before us; the gift of 
prophecy is preferred to other spiritual gifts, because 
of the greater benefit to man which it promises ; so 
that u following after charity," and the desire of " spi- 
ritual gifts," are negative goods compared with the 
positive one of " prophecy." The illustration occur- 
ring in the 7th verse requires the " wave "; in the 8th 
verse the " wave," or " double wave," as it is given on 
the principal words, indicates the illustration at once, 
showing that the trumpet and its sounds is not the 
subject under discussion, but that you make use of it 
in portraying the value of the gift of " prophecy." 
The " wave " is executed in about half the time usu- 
ally, that we employ for the circumflex ^-v ^^; its 
process, however, is the same — viz. : in the upward 
wave the inflection makes a slight descent and ascent 
^ ; in the downward wave ^ the directions of tone 
are reversed — a slight ascent and descent marks its 
course : 

1 Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but 
rather that ye may prophesy. 

2 For he that speaketh in an [unknown tongue! speak- 



100 INFLECTION. 

eth not unto men, but unto God: for no man understand- 
eth Mm; howbeit in the spirit he speaketli mysteries. 

3 But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to \-edifi- 
cation, and exhortation, and comfort! 

4 He that speaketh in an [unknown tongue! edifieth 
himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church. 

5 I would that ye all spake with tongues, but rather 
that ye prophesied : for greater is he that prophesieth 
than he that [speaketh with tongues! (except he inter- 
pret), that the church may receive edifying. 

6 ISTow, brethren, if I come unto you [speaking with 
tongues!, what shall I profit you, except I shall speak to 
you either by revelation, or by knowledge, or by prophe- 
sying, or by doctrine f 

7 And even things without life giving sound, whether 
pipe or harp, except they give a distinction in the sounds, 
how shall it be known what is piped or harped ? 

8 For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who 
shall prepare him to the battle ? 

9 So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words 
easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is 
spoken ; for ye shall speak into the air. 

10 There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in 
the world, and none of them is without signification. 

11 Therefore if I know not the meaning of the voice, 
I shall be unto him that speaketh a barbarian, and he 
that speaketh shall be a barbarian unto me. 

12 Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are [zealous of spiritual 



INFLECTION. 101 

gifts!, seek that ye may excel to the [edifying of the 
church). 

13 Wherefore let him that speaketh in an unknown 
tongue pray that he may interpret. 

14 For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my ^spirit 
prayetW, but my understanding is unfruitful. 

15 What is it then ? I will pray with the spirit, and 
I will pray with the understanding also : I will sing with 
the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also. 

16 Else when thou shalt bless with the spirit, how 

shall he that occupieth the [room of the unlearned] say 

Amen at thy giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth 
^ J fa ^& 

not what thou sayest ? 

IT For thou verily givest thanks well, but the other is 
not edified. 

In the third chapter of James, the subject of the 1st 
and 2d verses is the perfection which a man has 
reached who can control his tongue. The illustration 
of the 3d verse requires the " wave " w ^ to point it 
as an elucidation of the subject, and not as the subject 
itself ; else, with the upright and downright inflections 
of voice which belong to the subject, the language 
would be presented to us as that of a horsetamer; — 
that of the 4th verse as that of a shipbuilder. In the 
5th verse the subject is the " tongue," and a "little 
fire" is the illustration; yet if the "little fire" be dis- 
cussed with the ^ \ inflections of voice we use in di- 
lating on the " subject," we are as likely to lead our 
hearers into giving " the fire " the prominent consid- 
eration which the subject only should receive : — 



102 



INFLECTION. 



1 My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we 
shall receive the greater conclemnation. 

2 For in [many things] we offend all. If [any man] 
offend not in word, the same is a [perfect manl, and able 
also to ^bridle the whole body}. 

3 Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths, that they 
may obey us; and we turn about their whole body. - 

4 Behold also the ships, which, though they be so 
great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned 
about with a very small helm, whithersoever the gover- 
nor listeth. 

5 Even so [the tongue^ is a little member!, and boast- 
cth. great things. Behold, how [great a matter] a little 
fire kindleth ! 

6 And the tongue is a fire, a [world of iniquity] ; so is 
the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole 
body, and Csettetli oujire^ the course of nature; and it is 
set on fire of hell. 

w y S" 

7 For every kind of [beasts, and of birds, and of ser- 
pents, and of things in the sea], is tamed, and hath been 
tamed of mankind: 

8 But the tongue can no man tame ; it is an unruly 
evil, full of deadly poison. 

9 Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and there- 
with curse we men, which are made after the similitude 
of God. 

10 Out of the same mouth proceedeth [blessing and 
cursing]. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. 



INFLECTION. 103 

11 Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet 
water and bitter ? 

See also Mrs. Browning's poem — " The cry of the 
children 5 ': 

" The young lambs are playing in the meadows," etc. 
" But the young, young children, O my brothers ! " 

the latter being the subject, the first is the illustration. 
The following example is from the ISth chapter of 

Luke : — 

1 And he spake a parable unto them to [this end\ that 
men ought always to pray, and not to faint; 

2 Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared 
not God, neither regarded man : 

3 And there was a widow in that city; and she came 

unto him, saying, ft me of mine adversary." 

■> — ' 

4 And he would not for a while: but afterward he said 

within himself, " Though I fear not God, nor regard man; 

5 Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge 
her, lest by her [continual coming] she weary me." 

6 And the Lord said, "Hear- what the unjust judge 
saith." 

7 And shall not God avenge his town electl, which 
[cry day and night! unto him, though he bear long with 
them? 

8 I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Never- 
theless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith 
[on the earth! ? 



101 INFLECTION. 

9 And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted 
in themselves that they were righteous, and despised 
others: 

10 Two men went up into the [temple to pray\; the 
one a Pharisee and the other a publican. 

11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 
" God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, ex- 
tortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. 

12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I 
possess." 

13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift 
up so much as this eyes! unto heaven, but smote, upon his 
breast, saying, " God be merciful to me a sinner." 

14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justi- 
fled rather than the other: for every one that hxalteth 
himself] shall be abased ; and he that humbleth himself 
shall be exalted. 

15 And they brought unto him also infants, that he 
would touch them : but when his disciples saw it, they 
rebuked them. 

16 But Jesus called them unto him, and said, " Suffer 
little children to come unto me, and [forbid them noth 
for of such is the [kingdom of Godl. 

17 Verily I say unto you, "Whosoever shall not re- 
ceive the r kingdom of Godl as a little child shall in no 
wise enter therein. 

18 And a certain ruler asked him, saying, "Good 
Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life ? " 



INFLECTION. 105 

19 And Jesus said unto Mm, " Why callest thou me 
good ? none is good, save one, that is, God. 

20 " Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit 
adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false 
witness, Honour thy father and thy mother." 

21 And he said, "All these have I kept from my 
youth up." 

22 Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto 
him, Yet lackest thou one thing — sell all that thou hast, 
and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have [treas- 
ure in heaven^ : and [come, follow meJ. 

1st verse. Psy. positives and negatives. 

2d. Illustration, The. 

3d. Illustration, " slow quotation " also. 

4th. Illustration, and quotation of disparagement. 

6th, 7th, Sth. Slow quotation and psychological 
positives and negatives. 

9th. Psy. positives and negatives. 

10th. The illustration. 

11th, 12th. Psy. pos. and neg., quotation of dis- 
paragement. 

13th. Psy. positives and negatives, slow quotation. 

11th. The teaching. 

15th, 10th, 17th. Psy. positives and negatives, and 
slow quotation. 

18th, 19th, 20th, 21st, 22d Psy. positives and nega- 
tives, quotations. 

This speech of Bassanio's, from the " casket scene," 
in the Merchant of Venice, affords an excellent exam- 
ple of psychological positives and negatives : 



106 INFLECTION. 

Eass. So may the outward shows be least them- 
selves : 
The world is still deceived with ornament. 
In laiv, what plea so tainted and corrupt, 
But, being seasoned with a gracious voice, 
Obscures the [show of evil! ? In religion, 
What £ damned error!, but some sober brow, 
Will bless it, and approve it with a text, 
Hiding the grossness with [fair ornament! ? 

S S* y^ . S 

There is no vice so simple, but assumes 

Some [mark of virtue! on his outward parts. 

How many cowards, whose hearts are all as false 

As [stairs of sand!, wear yet upon their chins 

The [beards of Hercules^, and frowning Mars ; 

Who, inward search'd, have livers white as milk ? 

And these assume but valour's excrement, 

To render them redoubted. Look on beauty, 

And you shall see 'tis purchased by the weight ; 

Which therein works a [miracle in nature!, 

Making them lightest that wear most of it : 

So are those [crisped snaky golden locks!, ' 

Which make such wanton gambols with the wind, 

Upon supposed fairness, often known 

To be the dowry of a second head, 

The scull that bred them, in the sepulchre. 

Thus ornament is but the [guiled shore! 

To a most dangerous sea ; the [beauteous scarf! 

Veiling an Indian beauty ; in a word 

The seeming truth which cunning times put on 



INFLECTIOX. 10' 

To entrap the wisest. Therefore, thou gaudy gold, 
(Hard food for Midas,) I will none of thee : 
Nor none of thee, thou pale and common drudge 
'Tween man and man : but thou, thou meagre lead, 
Which rather threat'nest, than doth promise aught, 
Thy plainness moves me more than eloquence, 
And here choose I : Joy be the consequence ! 

' From lowest place where virtuous things proceed, 
The place is dignified by the doer's deed : 
Where great additions swell and virtue none, 
It is a dropsied honour : [good aloud 
Is good without a name, vileness is so : (also vile) 

\ **S. \ ^-~s 

The property by what it is — should go, 
4f S ' S" ,-y ^n \ \ \ 

Not by the title. She is young, wise, fair,' 

In these to nature she's immediate heir ; 

And these breed honour: that is honours scorn, 

Which challenges itself as honour born 

(And is not like the sire). Honours best thrive 

When rather from our acts we them derive 

Than our foregoers : the mere word a slave 

Debauched on every tomb ; on every grave 

A lying trophy, and (as oft" is dumb 

Where dust and damned oblivion is the tomb 

Of honoured bones indeed." 



King Lear. * * * The usurer hangs the 
cozener. 
Through tatter'd clothes small vices do appear; 



108 INFLECTION. 

Robes, and furr'd gowns hide all. Plate sin with gold, 
And the strong lance of justice hurtless "breaks : 
Arm it in rags, a pigmy's straw doth pierce it. 
None does offend, none, I say, none ; I'll able 'em : 
Take that of me, my friend, who have the power 
To seal the accuser's lips. Get thee glass eyes ; 
And, [like a scurvy politician^, seem 
To see the things thou dost not. 



§ 3.— ANTAGONISM OF GRAMMATICAL 
FORMS. 

We frequently meet with sentences whose form is 
antagonistic to their spirit, or meaning. Superficial 
readers are misled by what immediately meets the 
eye (the construction of the sentence) into rendering 
it with a meaning, spirit, or inflection of voice in ac- 
cordance with the form. Even careful readers will 
commit similar errors from the force of long, habit, or 
from false inflections caught from un reflective /teach- 
ers ; the first of these, the result of mannerisms incul- 
cated in early youth ; unwittingly, most likely. They 
do not read that which meets the understanding, but 
that which arrests the eye only ; else a sentence, inter- 
rogative in form but assertive in meaning, they would 
read assertively, and not interrogatively, as nine 
readers out of ten do. 

Take an example from Isaiah 40 : 24 : 

" Have ye not known ? have ye not heard? Hath it not 



INFLECTION. 109 

been told you from the beginning ? have ye not under- 
stood from the foundation of the earth ? " 

These clauses are interrogative in form, but decidedly 
assertive in spirit, as the reader will at once perceive ; 
then shall we follow the form in our inflections of 
voice, or the evident meaning 1 the " thought," you 
will say " certainly." In that case the downward or 
positive inflection is required on the principal words 
as marked. 

Henry YIII — declarative-interrogative : 

Q. Kath. Have I lived thus long — (let me speak 

myself, 
Since virtue finds no friends,) — a wife, a true one? 
A woman (I dare say, without vain-glory,) 
Never yet branded with suspicion ? 
Have I with all my full affections 
Still met the king ? loved him next Heaven ? obey'd 

him ? 
Been, out of fondness, superstitious to him ? 
Almost forgot my prayers to content him ? 
And am I thus rewarded ? 'tis not well, lords. 
Brin 2^ me a constant woman to her husband ; 
One, that ne'er dream'd a joy beyond his pleasure ; 
And to that woman, when she has done most, 
Yet will I add, an honour,— a great patience. 

As another instance see Macbeth, Act 1, Sc. 7: 

Mad). " Will it not be received, 
When we have marked with blood those sleepy two 



110 . INFLECTION. 

Of his own chamber, and used "[their very daggers^, 
That they have done 't ? " 

Macbeth is not here seeking for information, he is 
asserting. 

Look also in the same play for another example — 
Act 1, Sc. 3 : 

" Who can be wise, amazed," etc. 
In Hebrews 2:5: 

" For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection 



\ 



the [world to cornel, whereof we speak 



9" 



The next is plainly assertive, although interrogative 
in form ; the upward inflection s shook! on no ac- 
count be used at the termination of these clauses. It 
is not what we do in " nature" and those who profess 
to understand the " art " of reading should scrupulously 
avoid such an error. James 2 : 4, 5 : 

" Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are be- 
come judges of tevil thoughts] ? " 

This thought is viewed from a negative attitude of 
mind, and requires the negative circumflex, but the 
cadence or fall of the voice at the termination of the 
word " thoughts " indicates all that is necessary of the 
meaning. 5th verse : 

" Hearken, my beloved brethren, hath not God chosen 
the lpt>&r of this worldl rich in faith, and theirs of the 



INFLECTION. Ill 

kingdom] which ho hath promised to them that lone 
him ? " 

The 6th and 7th verses give ns examples of the declar- 
ative-negative in thought : 

6 But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men 
oppress yon, and draw you before the judgment seats] ? " 

7 Do not they blaspheme that [worthy name! by the 
which ye are called ? 

From Henry YIII — a declarative-negative : 

Wol. Most gracious sir, 
In humblest manner I require your high:: ess, 
That it shall please you to declare, in hearing 
. Of all these ears, (for where I am robb'd and bound, 
There must I be unloosed ; although not there 
At once and fully satisfied,) whether ever I 
Did broach this business to your highness ; or 
Laid any scruple in your way, which might 
Induce you to the question on't ? or ever 
Have to you, — but with thanks to God for such 
A royal lady, — spake one the least word, might 
Be to the prejudice of her present state, 
Or touch of her good person ? 

In the following instance the spirit is assertive, the 
form interrogative ; the clauses are partly positive in 
meaning, and partly negative : 

6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen ? . To loose 



1 1 2 INFLECTION. 

the [bonds of wickedness!, to undo the [heav} T burdens!, 
and to let [the oppressed! go free, and that ye break 
every yoke ? 

7 Is it not to tdeal thy breads to the hungry, and that 
thou bring [the poor! that are cast out, to thy house ? 
When thou seest the naked, that thou cover him, and 
that thou [hide not thyself] from thine own flesh f — Isa. 
58 : 6, 7. . 

From previous explanations the student will readily 
perceive the reasons for giving certain words in these 
verses the positive character — certain others the nega- 
tive ; for " massing " certain words conveying but one 
thought, for using the stronger circumflex instead of 
the ': inflection " on different words. 

In Anton fj and Cleopatra, Cleopatra says to Pro- 
culeius : 

"Know, sir, that I 
Will not wait pinioned at your master's court, 
Nor once be chastised with the sober eye 
Of [dull OctaviaJ. Shall they hoist me up, 
And show me to the [shouting varletry 
Of censuring Komei ? Rather a klitch in Egypt! 
Be [gentle gravd unto me." 

"Hush, in his Division on Interrogative Sentences, 
says : " The repulsive indignation of this question can- 
not be fully painted without the fullest measure of 
interrogative coloring." I maintain that a higher 
principle determines the inflection of voice in this 
instance. Strong ." negation " is the main thought in 



INFLECTIOX. lid 

Cleopatra's mind ; she is not interrogating Procnleius 
as to whether she " shall be hoisted np and shown," 
etc., etc. The sentence is a grammatical interrogative 
in form, but a decided declarative-negative in mean- 
ing — a " psychological negative " — and as these always 
take the upward inflection ^ (or circumflex w , ac- 
cording to the strength of negation), this sentence 
should be rendered as I have marked it ; Cleopatra's 
meaning being, " They shall never hoist me up," etc. 
From Julius Ccesar, Act 4, Sc. 2 : 

Brut. " Judge me, ye gods ! wrong I mine enemies ? 
And if not so, how should I wrong my brother ? " 

If I do not wrong mine enemies — which might in 
some sense be excusable — how can it be possible that 
I should wrong my brother ? 

Antony over the body of Caesar : 

" He hath brought many captives home to Rome, 
Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill. 
Did this in Caesar seem ambitious ? 



You all did see that on the Lupercal 

I thrice presented him a ^kingly crown}, 

Which he did thrice refuse ! was this ambition ? " 

The student will observe that the downward inflec- 
tion \ just above the termination of a word, indicates 
not the attitude of mind with regard to the thought 
the word conveys, but the " falling cadence," which is 



114 INFLECTION'. 

sometimes natural at the end of a sentence, and merely 
marks the close, .especially in non-interroffatives. In 
" negative " sentences this falling cadence is preceded 
by the negative inflection ^ or circumflex ^. 
From Macbeth : 

Witches. Seek to know no more ! 

Macbeth. I will be satisfied. Deny me this, 
And an eternal curse fall on you. Let me know 
Why sinks that caldron, and what noise is this ? 

An " imperative " is always understood unless ex- 
pressed, as in the preceding case, " Let me know." 

The following example is a " declarative-negative." 
The writer means that God never said to an angel, 
" Thon art my son," etc. Hebrews, ch. 1 : 

5 For unto which of the angels said he at any time, 
" Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee ? " and 
again, " I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me 
a son." 



13 But to which of the angels said he at any time, 
"Sit on my right hand until I make thine enemies thy 

footstool?" 

The form of this sentence is antagonistic to its spirit ; 
it is also a " psychological negative." 

14 Are they not all [ministering spirits!, sent forth to 
minister for them who shall be theirs of salvation^ ? " 



INFLECTION. 115 

In Romans 4:9: 

" Cometh this blessedness then upon the circumcision 
only, or upon the icncircumcision also ? For we say that 
faith was reckoned to Abraham for right so usiiess." 

There are other examples in the same chapter. 
2 Corin. 11 : 22: 

Are they Hebrews f (Interrogative in form, assertive 
in meaning.} So am I. Are they Israelites? so am I. 
Are they the seed of Abraham? so am I. 

Prov. 24 : 12 : 

" If thou sayest, ' Behold, we knew it not ; ' doth not 
he that pondereth the heart consider it? And lie that 
keepeth thy soul doth not he know it ? and shall not he 
render every man according to his works?" 



2 Inow when John had heard in the prison the works 

of Christ, he sent two of hrs disciples. 

\ \ \ \ \ 

3 And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, 
y / ^ ^ \ 

or do we look for another ? 

The first part of this latter sentence is plainly asser- 
tive — the last is negative in spirit, as marked. 

There are sentences that are partly interrogative, 
partly declarative, as this — King Richard III, Glostei 
to Clarence : 

" Brother, good day ! what means this armed guard 
That waits upon your grace ? " 



116 INFLECTION. 

These declarative-interrogative sentences are from 
Hamlet, Act 1, Sc. 1. (Enter ghost.) 

Bernardo. Looks it not like the king f 
Mark it, Horatio. * * * * * 

Horatio. What art thou that usurpest this time of 
night, 
Together with that fair and warlike form, 
In which the majesty of buried Denmark 
Did sometimes march ? by heaven, I charge thee, 
speak. 
Marcellus. 'Tis gone, and will not answer. 
Ber. How now, Horatio? You tremble, and look 
pale : 
Is not this something more than fantasy ? 
Mar. Is it not like the king ? 

Later in the play where Hamlet is speaking to Po- 
lonius — 

My lord, you played once in the University you say ? 
* * * % 

You could for a need study a speech of some dozen or 
sixteen lines which I would set down and insist on't ? 

At the battle-field near Barnet where Warwick is 
brought wounded, the first words he says abound with 
this sort of examples. Some of the sentences are in 
part declarative, in part interrogative. 

War. Ah, who is nigh ? come to me, friend or foe, 
And tell me ; who is victor, York or Warwick ? 



INFLECTION. 117 

Why ask I that ? my [mangled body\ shews, 

[My blood, my [want of strength!, my sick 7iear£ shews,] 

That I must {yield my body] to the earth, 

And by my fall, the conquest of my foe. 

Thus yields the cedar to the axe's edge, 

Whose arms gave shelter to the [princely eaglet, 

Under whose shade the [ramping lionl slept: 

Whose [top-brancW overpeer'd Jove's spreading tree, 

And kept low shrubs from winter's powerful wind. 

These eyes that now are dimm'd with death's, black 

veil, 

Have been [as piercing as the mid-day sun], 

To search the [secret treasons! of the world: 

The ^wrinkles in my browl, now iilPd with blood, 

Were liken'd oft to [kingly sepulchres^ ; 

^ \ \ \ \ ^\ 

For who lived king, but 1 could [dig his graved ? 

And who durst smile, when Warwick bent his brow ? 

Lo, now my glory smear'd in dust and blood ! 

My parks, my walks, my manors that I had, 

Even now forsake me; and of all my lands, 

Is nothing left me but my ^body's length! ! 

Why, 10/iat is pomp, rule-, reign, but earth and dust ? 

And, live we how we can, yet die we must. 

A declarative sentence with an interrogative mean- 
ing should be read with the upward intonation. 

2. The Conditional Form. 

It is antagonistic to the meaning when requiring to 
be read with the downward inflection, the spirit of the 



118 INFLECTION. 

thought being assertive, absolute, not conditional. As 
an example: — 

"If then God does," 

"If it has been proven beyond dispute," etc., etc. 

In these verses the spirit of the thought is assertive, 
the form conditional : — 

10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled 
to God by the [death of his Son], much more, being recon- 
ciled, we shall be saved by his life. 

^ :Je % ?I: %: * t!: 

^ ^ S W ^ 

17 For if by one man's offence death reigned by one ; 
much more they which receive [abundance of grace and 
of the gift of righteousness! shall reign in life by one, 
Jesus Christ. — Romans, chap. 5. 

This sentence is in the conditional form, but is as- 
sertive in meaning : 

" If God be merciful to the sinner, why need he de- 
spair?,' - 

The following is an example of conditional form 
with absolute meaning : — 

" If virtue is in itself so lovely, surely then it is its 
own reward." 

The conditional form — assertive in spirit : 

" If then God so clothe the grass, which is to-day in 
\ / . . y s S- - 

the field, and to-morrow is cast into the oven ; how much 

more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith." 



INFLECTION. 119 



3. The Imperative Form. 

It is antagonistic with the meaning when requiring 
to he read with the upward inflection, the thought 
being conditional, contingent, or uncertain. 

Othello, Act 3, Sc. 3 : 

" Villain, be sure thou prove my love is false: 
Be sure of it; give me the ocular proof; 

* * ♦. * :;: * 

Or, by the worth of mine eternal soul, 
Thou hadst better have been born a dog 
Than answer my [waked loraW. 

% ^ Jji :£ :Jj jjj 

Make me to see it, or (at the least) so prove it, 
That the probation bear no hinge nor loop 
To hang a doubt on: or woe upon thy life ! 

Here the thought is " conditional "• Othello does not 
desire that Iago should "prove" his "love" is false; 
on the contrary, the Moor hopes that the other may 
not be able to do so ; he is positive enough in his 
meaning in the next line quoted — " Or by the worth," 
etc. Then we have again the "imperative" in form, 
but conditional in thought, on the lines : " Make me to 
see it " (the meaning being, " Unless you can make me 
to see it"), if you cannot so prove it, that the proba- 
tion bear no hinge nor loop to hang a doubt on), woe 
upon thy life "; — this last being positive. 



120 INFLECTION. 

The next is imperative in form, but conditional in 
meaning : — 

" Prove to me that person has never done wrong, and 
I will declare to you that he is worthy of your praise." 

This is imperative in form only : 

Prove to me, that you know your lessons for to-mor- 
row, and I will believe you. 

Example of imperative form with conditional mean- 
ing : 

Write on both sides of a sheet, and I will throw your 
manuscript into the fire. 

§4.— MELODY, AS APPLIED TO THE 
READING OF POETRY. 

John Longmuir, A.M., LL.D., in his " Walker and 
Webster combined," tells us that Melody, n., is "an 
agreeable succession of sounds by a single voice, and 
thus differing from harmony, which consists in the 
accordance of different sounds." Now my experience 
tells me that most persons who read poetry aloud, do 
not endeavor to produce an " agreeable succession of 
sounds "; they attend rather to the symmetrical rela- 
tion between the duration of " time " and that of 
" sound," and (mark this, for herein lies the great 
defect) to the periodical return of the same effect ; 
they fairly struggle to give ns a " harmony," when all 
that we ask for is a simple, pleasing, natural "mel- 
ody." I emphasize the word " nature," for anything 



INFLECTION-. 121 

falser to nature than the sing-song manner of render- 
ing poetry that many affect, even public readers, can- 
not possibly be conceived. That people of known 
culture should, in the expression of poetry, make more 
prominent the " rhythm " than the " thoughts " in a 
poem is simply astonishing. Yet it is matter of expe- 
rience that many of them make a mere nursery jingle 
of the noblest and sweetest productions of the poets. 

"What is poetry ? " Poetry is the language of the 
imagination ; poetry is only the highest eloquence of 
passion ; the most vivid form of expression that can 
be given to our conception of any thing, whether 
pleasurable or painful, mean or dignified, delightful or 
distressing. It is the perfect coincidence of the image 
and the words with the feeling we have, and of which 
we cannot get rid, in any other way, that gives an in- 
stant satisfaction to the thought. This is equally the 
origin of wit and fancy, of comedy and tragedy, of the 
sublime and pathetic." Poetry, then, does not con- 
sist of rhythmical changes in tone and time, but it is 
the language which most eloquently and vividly con- 
veys the expression of the passions. Then should the 
delivery of poetry (as well as prose) be distinguished 
by the varied tones appropriate to different pas- 
sions; the " time " in which the successive thoughts 
are given, depends on our mental valuation of those 
thoughts, and in my lesson on Time the student will 
find the necessary principles for guidance in this mat- 
ter ; the emphasis should be controlled by philosophi- 
cal principles, and we should by no means allow our 
appreciation of rhythm to betray us into false em- 
6 



.122 INFLECTION. 

phasis, by causing ns to give a corresponding stress on 
successive lines without any logical reason for so 
doing. It remains for me to point out some of the 
principal errors, into which readers of poetry com- 
monly fall. 

1. Similarity of Rhythmical Accent. 

This mistake is referred to above ; it is a propensity 
for emphasizing words at a given spot in each succes- 
sive line ; as if, in the first verse of Shelley's " Sensi- 
tive Plant," I were deluded by my sense of rhythm 
into giving it in this manner : 

1 A sensitive plant in a garden grew, 
And the young winds fed it with silver dew, 
And it opened its fan-like leaves to the light, 
And closed them beneath the kisses of night. 

2. Similarity of ending each Line. 

This fault in "ending" may be committed by 
either " stress," or " tone," or a "fall of voice"; the 
first of these three would be — 

" A sensitive plant in a garden greio, 
And the young winds fed it with silver dew" etc. 

The second, by " tone " : 

A sensitive plant in a garden grew, 

And the young winds feci it with silver dew, etc., 

the upward inflection (or any other) being systemati- 
cally given on each concluding word. The "fall of 



INFLECTION. 123 

voice" is a peculiar downward cadence given on each 
concluding word. . 

3. Similarity by Pause. 

This is dividing the lines into equal parts by paus- 
ing at stated periods ; as if the second verse of the 
same poem were to be read : 

2 And the spring arose — on the garden fair, 
Like the spirit of love — felt everywhere ; 
And each flower and herb — on earth's dark breast 
Rose from the dreams — of its wintry rest. 

The remainder of this poem may be practised by 
the pupil, his special care being to avoid the defects 
against which he is here warned. 

For testing whether one has already formed these 
habits of false rendering, the choice should be given 
to poems whose measured lines and pronounced 
rhymes make them peculiarly liable to defective treat- 
ment. Of these, familiar to us all, I would suggest 
the "Bridge of Sighs," the "Psalm of Life," the 
" May Queen," " Resignation," " John Gilpin," Gray's 
" Elegy," and Herrick's " To Daffodils," which last I 
append : 

Fair Daffodils, we weep to see 

You haste away so soon, 
As yet the early rising sun 

Has not attained his noon. 
Stay, stay, 



121 INFLECTION. 

Until the hasting day 

Has run 

But to the even-song ; 
And, having prayed together, we 

Will go with you along. 

We have short time to stay as you, 

We have as short a spring ; 
As quick a growth to meet decay, 

As you, or -any thing ; 
We die 
As your hours do, and dry 
Away, 

Like to the summer's rain ; 
Or as the pearls of morning dew, 

Ne'er to be found again. 



OHAPTEE V. 
■ THE TONES OF THE EMOTIONS. 

DIFFEKENT emotions and passions are expressed 
by different intonations of voice. I will not 
enlarge here upon the lamentable prevalence of false 
intonations, but we may say that if persons really 
desirous of cultivating the art of elocution, would but 
notice the people around them when under the in- 
fluence of different passions, they would very soon 
become familiar with the vocal expression natural to 
the various emotions ; they would soon discover that 
in nature we never describe the tender, the affection- 
ate, the beautiful, in semitones ; nor deliver sublime 
passages with abrupt force (which is natural to " rage " 
and kindred passions). These errors are specified 
because of their being most common among false 
intonations. The observant student will find that 
force, abruptness, time, and pitch are employed in 
various degrees in giving expression to every emotion 
that has possession of the mind ; he will also perceive 
that there are some occasions on which soft and tender 
intonations would be utterly ridiculous; and others 
again on which force would cause the sentiment to 
appear disgusting bombast. That state of mind which 
indicates mere " thought" narratives or descriptions, 



126 THE TONES OF THE EMOTIONS. 

which represent things as they are in themselves, 
without reference to our relationship to them, require 
an intonation which is unemotional ; that which we 
call the didactic, or simply intellectual. Force of 
voice is employed in the expression of rage, wrath, 
d auger, horror; and force combined with the aspirate 
gives us astonishment, exultation, or surprise— accord- 
ing to the degrees of aspiration and force used. Ab- 
rupt force gives us a greater degree of rage, wrath, 
anger, or impatience ; then with less force, much less, 
and equal abruptness, we have mirth and raillery. 
All sentiments that embrace the idea of deliberation 
we give in lengthened intonations, as sorrow, grief, 
respect, veneration, dignity, apathy, contrition. I 
speak of this here, as these passions in their expression 
are opposed to those more violent emotions, which will 
not bear repression, but take instant relief in " abrupt 
force." The quality of voice in anger and in impera- 
tive authority is " loud "; in grief, modesty, commise- 
ration, " soft "; secresy is " whispered "; hate is " as- 
pirated." We hear the "head voice" in the whine 
of peevishness ; in the querulous, in the high tremulous 
pitch of mirth, in the piercing scream of terror; we 
hear the head voice in all of these, but they are dis- 
tinguished from each other by the different degrees 
of force, of time, and of emphasis or stress, that are 
also employed in conjunction with it. 

A softened modulation of voice is required by hu- 
mility, modesty, shame, doubt, irresolution, apathy, 
fatigue, caution, tranquillity — these on whole tones 
generally, and with different degrees of time and 



THE TONES OF THE EMOTIONS. 127 

stress ; the same degree of gravity in combination with 
the semitone gives us sorrow, pity, grief. 

Take, for example, a few lines that are capable of 
being given with different meanings, according to the 
intonation employed. These spoken by Constance in 
King John will serve the purpose : 

Const. Gone to be married ! gone to swear a peace ! 
False blood to false blood join'd ! gone to be friends ! 
Shall Lewis have Blanch ? and Blanch those provinces ? 
It is not so. 

Deliver this passage on varied semitones, with the 
vowels all pronounced in slow time, and you have 
" sorrow." The relative acuteness or gravity of the 
semitones used on this passage is indicated by the fol- 
lowing arrangement : 



6 and Blanch those provinces! 
5 Shall Lewis have Blanch ? 
4 gone to be friends ! 
2 gone to swear a peace ! 
1 Gone to be married ! 

3 False blood to false blood join'd 1 7 It is not so ! 

Now pronounce the lines on whole tones but with 
the voice skipping about up and down the scale ad 
libitum, but not with regularity, neither reaching a 
very high nor a very low key ; literally tripping about 
among the notes within a reasonable compass, like 
this for instance : 



128 THE TONES OF THE EMOTIONS. 



_ 


-»■'"•* 






«' 49 




«gj> »" 


«? 


8 friends ? 
7 gone to be 




G a 
4 married! 


peace ? 


2 to 
1 Gone 


5 gone to swear 
3 be 




a» m 


sat 


,rr» 


<B & 




■®* 49 




11 

9 Shall Lewis 


<2> 

Blanch ? 


m> 


10 have 


12 and Blanch those 


15 ces? 17 is 




14 in- 


1G It 




13 prov- 


18 not so. 






The vowel sounds are all pronounced in quick 
time ; they are not dwelt upon as in sorrow, but are 
sounded, and instantly the voice skips to another 
word — now we have the intonation of joy. 

To render the passage with "anger" "abrupt 
force" is used, the vowel sounds are " exploded" 
rather than spoken, the chest voice is to be employed 
here, and with great force ; the voice does not rise to 
so high a key as in joy, nor fall to so low a key as 
in sorrow; yet avoid the " monotone," which is the 
symbol of a very different passion. 

Now give the lines with surprise ; in portraying 
this emotion the voice will travel through several 
whole tones on almost every word ; the time is slow 
in unmixed surprise, but the leading feature of sur- 
prise is the "partial aspirate"; the words being 
partly spoken, partly breathed forth. 

This little example may be given with sarcasm, 



THE TONES OF THE EMOTIONS. 129 

with scorn, hate, affirmation, exclamation, interroga- 
tion, as desired. For the analysis of these tones the 
pupil is referred to the division dealing with each. 

§ 1.— THE OROTUND VOICE. 

This is the symbol of sublimity. Longinus says, 
that " the mind is elevated by it (sublimity) and so 
sensibly affected as to sic dl in transport and inward 
pride as if what is only heard or read, were its own 
invention. ? ' Xow this is exactly the action of the 
voice in expressing a sense of sublimity; it swells — - 
that is, it increases in volume, roundness, power, at 
each impulse ; there is no explosiveness, but a gradual 
increase of force on each word ; and we will borrow 
the character used in music to describe a similar 
effect, as the sign of the " orotund " — namely, the 
' ; crescendo n <. 

The grand, the magnificent, etc., creating kindred 
emotions in the mind, call also for the ;; orotund," in 
giving that feeling expression : and in describing these 
emotions, a greater or lesser degree of the orotund is 
required according to the force of motive power. In 
practising the exercises illustrative of this principle of 
intonation, the pupil will use the base voice 5 and on 
the principal words in the passage give the orotund as 
marked ; each word begins with a certain degree of 
force, but that force is slowly increased, and pauses in 
its volume (but does not decrease) after each impulse. 
A close acquaintance with the meanings, and shades 
of meaning, in words sometimes used synonymously, 
will be the best director in deciding the decrees of 



130 THE TONES OF THE EMOTIONS. 

the orotund required in different cases ; that which is 
"great" requires a lesser degree than that which is 
grand; that which is simply "grand," less than the 
" sublime," etc. I quote briefly from Grabbers Syno~ 
nymes as ail assistance to younger pupils in discrimi- 
nating the "tones" requisite: "Great simply desig- 
nates extent ; grand includes likewise the idea of ex- 
cellence and superiority. A great undertaking cha- 
racterizes only the extent of the undertaking ; a grand 
undertaking bespeaks its superior excellence. Grand 
and sublime are both superior to great; but the 
former marks the dimension of greatness, the latter, 
from the Latin sublimis, designates that of height. 
A scene may be either grand or sublime : it is grand, 
as it fills the imagination with its immensity ; it is 
sublime, as it elevates the imagination beyond the sur- 
rounding and less important objects. There is some- 
thing grand in the sight of a vast army moving for- 
ward as it were by one impulse ; there is something 
peculiarly sublime in the sight of huge mountains and 
craggy cliffs of ice shaped into various fantastic forms. 
Grand may be said either of the works of art or 
nature. The Egyptian pyramids or the ocean are 
both grand objects ; a tempestuous ocean is a sublime 
object. ' Grand ' is sometimes applied to the mind ; 
sublime is applied both to the thoughts and the ex- 
pressions. There is a ' grandeur ' of conception in the 
writings of Milton ; there is a ' sublimity' in the inspired 
writings, which far surpass all human productions." 

As an example of the orotund see these lines from 
Julius Ocesar, Act 1, Sc. 3 : 






THE TONES OF THE EMOTIONS. 131 

<: <: 

He cloth bestride the narrow world 
Like a Colossus ; and we petty men 
Walk under his huge legs. 

Here is one of many instances from " Antony and 
Cleopatra ": 

Cleo. I dream' d, there was an emperor Antony; — 
O, such another sleep, that I might see 
But such another man ! 

Dol. If it might please you, 

Cleo. His face was as the heavens; and therein stuck 
A sun, and moon; which kept their course, and lighted 
The little O, the earth. 

Dol. Most sovereign creature, 

Cleo. His legs bestrid the ocean : his rear'd arm 

Crested the world: his voice was propertied 

As all the tuned spheres, and that to friends; 

But when he meant to quail and shake the orb, 

He was as rattling thunder. 

—Act 5, Sc. 3. 

The psychological positives and negatives are not 
incompatible with this or any other intonation : the 
inflections, indicating the positive and negative frames 
of mind, merely carry the required intonation in an 
upward or downward direction, according to necessity. 

The following is from King Lear, Act 4 ; Sc. 5 : 

Edg. Come on, sir; here's the place: — stand still. — 
How fearful 
And dizzy 'tis, to cast one eyes so low ! 



132 THE TONES OF THE EMOTIONS. 

The crows and choughs, that wing the midway air, 

mod* 

Shew scarce so gross — as beetles; half way down 
Hangs one that gathers samphire, — dreadful trade ! 

mod. 

Methinks, he seems no bigger — than his head: 
The fishermen, that walk upon the beach, 

mod. ■< <r <: 

Appear — like mice; and yon' tall anchoring bark, 

mod. «=c mod. 

Diminish'd to her cock; her cock, a — buoy, 

Almost too small for sight: The murmuring surge, 

That on the unnumber'd idle pebbles chafes, 

mod. 

Cannot be heard so high: — I'll look no more; 
Lest my brain turn, and the deficient sight 
Topple down headlong. 

The greater objects naturally take the orotund, the 
lesser a modulated tone, akin to their littleness ; the 
great height is admirably delineated by the similitudes 
employed; the distances are pictured by the swell 
of the voice on each " subject," and its sudden fall to 
a much modified key on the comparisons, 

Hamlet, Act 3, 8c. 1 : — 

''Majesty 

w ■ < <: <r 

Dies not alone, but — like a gulf doth draw 

What's near it with it: It's a massy wheel 

Fixed on the summit of the highest mount; 
<: <r <: <c mod. 

To whose huge spokes ten thousand — lesser things 
Are mortised and adjoined; which, when it falls, 

* Moderate the tone. 






THE TONES OF THE EMOTIONS. 133 

moderate the tone. 

Each — small annexment, petty consequence, 
Attends the boist'rous ruin." 

In practising this exercise, be careful to increase the 
volume of tone on the words marked with the " cres- 
cendo " <. 

The following example is from Henry Kirke White : 

" Yea, He doth come, — the mighty champion comes, 
Whose potent spear shall give thee thy death wound, 

<: -< < 

Shall crush the conqueror of conquerors, 

And desolate stern desolation's lord; 

Lo where He cometh ! the Messiah comes ! 

< <: <: 

The King ! the Comforter ! the Christ ! He comes 
To burst the bonds of death and overturn 
The [power of timeV 

In the following exercise the pupil will perceive an 
example of the " parenthesis," and also of the intona- 
tion employed in describing the beautiful— the dimin- 
uendo :— 

"It is not only in the sacred fane 
That homage should be paid to the most High. 
There is a temple, — one not made with hands— 
The vaulted firmament; far in the woods, 
Almost beyond the sound of city chime, 
At intervals heard through the breezeless air; 
When not the limberest leaf is seen to move 
(Save where the linnet lights upon the spray), 



134 THE TONES OF THE EMOTIONS. 

When not a flow'ret bends its little stalk 
(Save where the bee alights upon the bloom), 
There, rapt in gratitude, in joy, and love, 
The man of God will pass the Sabbath noon; 
Silence his praise, his disembodied thoughts 
Loosed from the [load of words!, will high ascend 
Beyond the empyrean." 

— The Worship of God in the Solitude of the 
Woods. — James Grahame, 1765-1811. 

This passage from Othello gives us an excellent 
exercise on the " orotund": — 

" Like to the Pontic sea, 
Whose icy current and compulsive course 
Ne'er feels retiring ebb — but keeps due on 
To the Propontic and the Hellespont, 
Even so my murderous* thoughts with violent pace 
Shall ne'er look back, ne'er ebb to humble love, 
Till that a capable and wide revenge 

Swallow them up." 

— Othello, Act 3, JSc. 3. 

§ 2.— ABRUPT FORCE. 

This is the sign of .anger, wrath, danger, etc. Pub- 
lic speakers of all sorts, clergymen, actors, orators, etc., 
almost all suffer sooner or later, when ignorant of the 

*■ This word is substituted for " bloody," which is the true read- 
ing. ' • , 



THE TONES OF THE EMOTIONS. 135 

correct mode of using " abrupt force." They strain 
their voices to such an extent in passionate utterance, 
that very soon the voice " breaks," or inflammatory 
and other affections of the broncliise are induced 
which soon incapacitate the unfortunates for public 
speaking of any kind. Their mistake is in endeavor- 
ing to give abrupt force with the throat and head 
voices, instead of the chest voice, which should be used 
the same as in the orotund. For the cultivation of 
this particular intonation, instead of the "swell" of 
the " orotund," the word is " exploded " with equal 
force at one impulse ; the vowels are all short, given 
instantaneously, and each consonant rendered with in- 
tensity — if I may so express it. 

If in the exercise which follows the pupil wills that 
his voice come from the lowest part of the chest, and 
that each word be expelled with one sudden heaving 
of the diaphragm, he will find that Le has at his com- 
mand a quality of voice for expressing passion, which 
he may use ad libitum and for almost any length of 
time, without feeling fatigue, and with no danger of 
tearing " passion to tatters to very rags — to split the 
ears of the groundlings." 

The queen says : — 

" By heaven ! I will acquaint his majesty 
Of those gross taunts I often have received ! " 

Exercise : — (Vowels all abrupt like this : " What % 

! ft 

threat you me, etc.) . 

Gloster. What ? threat you me with telling of the 
kin 2? 



136 THE TONES OF THE EMOTIONS. 

Tell him, and spare not: look, what I have said 
I will avouch, in presence of the king: 
Ere you were queen, aye, or your husband king, 
I was a pack horse in his great affairs. 
A weeder-out of his proud adversaries, 
A liberal rewarder of his friends; 
In all which time, you and your husband 
Grey, were factious for the house of Lancaster 
And Rivers ! so were you ! 
A flourish, trumpets ; strike alarum, drums ! 
* * * * Strike, I say!" 



-Richard III., Act 1, JSc. 3. 



Exercise 



" Ruin seize thee, ruthless king ! 
Confusion on thy banners wait; 
Though fanned by conquest's crimson whig, 
They mock the air with idle state. 
Helm nor hauberk's twisted mail, 
Nor e'en thy virtues, tyrant, shall avail 
To save thy secret soul from nightly fears, 
From Cambria's curse, from Cambria's tears ! " 

— The Bard. — -Thomas Gray. 

The following is an exercise for the practice of ab- 
rupt force; but it is of equal importance in the exer- 
cise it gives us for the recovery of the voice on a low 
key, after reaching a climax on a high key. The first 
sentence as far as " fiend " is pronounced on a low key 
with mere force (not abrupt) ; then on a higher key, 
with abrupt force, as far as " anything"; then recover 
the voice on a low key at " that's clue/' rising higher 






THE TONES OF THE EMOTIONS. 137 

and higher until ' ; come " lias been pronounced. Xow 
recover the low key at " O," rise higher and higher, 
recover the low key at " some " (giving the next two 
words on the same key), raise the voice slightly at 
" thou," reaching gradually the highest point of the 
'•chest voice"; after the word " amend " recover the 
low key; raise it again at "I am," etc.; recover low 
key at " villain-like "; raise the key somewhat on 
" lesser," thence descend gradually to a very low tone, 
at which finish. 

Post. Ay, so thou dost, 

( Coming forward.) 
Italian fiend ! — Ah me, most credulous fool, 
Egregious murderer, thief, any thing 
That's due to all the villains past, in being. 
To come ! — O, give me cord, or knife, or poison, 
Some upright justicer ! Thou, king, send out 
For torturers ingenious; it is I 
That all the abhorred things of the earth amend. 
By being worse than they. I am Posthumus, 
That kill'd thy daughter: — villain-like, I lie; 
That caused a lesser villain than myself, 
A sacrilegious thief, to do't. 

§ 3.— CLIMAX. 

This means " ascent "; it is a figure in rhetoric in 
which a sentence rises as it were step by step ; or a 
series of sentences or particulars rise in importance or 
dignity to the close, and the voice must correspond 
with this upward progress and increased power by 



138 THE TONES OF THE EMOTIONS. 

rising in "pitch" and in "force." "Caesura," as ap- 
plied here, means "the pause" which we make in 
reading, in order to call attention to, and to give 
weight to the clause immediately following. 

I append several examples for the practice of " cli- 
max." After a climax has been reached on any sen- 
tence or series of sentences, the voice resumes on a 
very much lower key. 

" A hungry, lean-faced villain, 
A mere anatomy, a mountebank, 
A thread-bare juggler and a "fortune-teller": 

A needy, hollow-eyed, sharp-looking wretch, 

climax. 

A Uiving dead-man! : — this pernicious slave 
Forsooth took on him fas a conjuror], 
And gazing in mine eyes, feeling my pulse, 
And with no face, as 'twere outfacing me, 
Cries out — {caesura) — I was possessed ! " 






"And I, forsooth, in love! I, that have been love's 
whip, 
A critic; nay, a night-watch constable; ' 

climax. 

A domineering pedant — o'er the boy, 
Than whom no mortal so magnificent ! 
This wimpled,* whining, purblind, wayward boy; 
This ^senior-junior}, [giant-dwarf] — Dan Cupid, 
Regent of love-rhymes, lord of folded arms, 
The anointed sovereign of sighs and groans, 
Liege of all loiterers and malcontents, 
Dread prince of plackets, f king of codpieces, 

* Hooded. f Petticoats. 



THE TONES OF THE EMOTIONS. 139 

Sole imperator and great general 

climax. 
Of trotting paritors. — O my little heart — (caesura) 

And I to be a corporal of his field, 

And wear his colors like a tumbler's hoop. 

climax. 
What I ! I love ! I sue ! I seek a wife ! 

A woman that is [like a German clock!, — (sim. disap.) 

Still a repairing; ever out of frame, 

And never going right, being a watch, — (ccesura) 

But being watch'd that it may still go right." 

The word "climax" is introduced in the proper 
places in these exercises, also the " caesura "; the first, 
after the series, or when the climax has been reached ; 
the second, "before the sentence to which you wish to 
lend " weight." " Cadence " is that fall of the voice 
which indicates the approaching end of a sentence or 
passage. 

y \ \ jf \ ^climax. \ 

" Sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish,— I give 
my hand and my heart to this vote. 

(Raise the pitch.) Read this declaration at the head of 
the army, and every sword shall be drawn from its scab- 
bard and the solemn vow uttered to maintain it — (caesura) 
— or to perish on the bed of honor. Let them hear it, 
who heard the first roar of the enemies' cannon. Let 
them see it, who saw their brothers and their sons fall 
on the field of Bunker-hill and in the streets of Lexington 

climax. \ \ 

and Concord, — (caesura) — and the very walls shall cry 

out for its support. 

v. / v. y. 

I leave off* as I began, that, live-or die, survive or perish, 

— (caesura) — I am for the declaration." 



140 THE TONES OF THE EMOTIONS. 



§ 4.— FORCE. 

The practice of simple force adds to the voice dig- 
nity and volume. This admirable roundness of tone 
is opposed to the disagreeable squeak and repulsive 
nasal twang characteristic of many. Force differs 
from " abrupt force " merely in its slow, deliberate 
utterance, when compared with " the explosiveness " 
of the latter. . 

Give with the bass voice the following exercise, in- 
creasing the force at the joints indicated by ff\ 

ffAffff:- 

Macbeth, Act 3, Sc. 5 : 

f What man dare, I dare: 

Approach thou like the rugged Russian bear, 
The arm'd rhinoceros or the hyrcan tiger; 
Take any shape but that, and my firm nerves 
Shall never tremble, ff Or, be alive again, 
And dare me to the desert with thy sword; 
If trembling I inhibit thee, protest me 
The baby of a girl, fff Hence, horrible shadow ! 
ffff Unreal mockery, hence ! 



§ 5.— THE DIMINUENDO. 

The diminuendo > is the symbol of affection, tern 
derness, beauty, and love. This tone is commenced 
with a certain degree of volume at each impulse, but 
gradually vanishes away to inaudibility. The fault 
with most readers and reciters is that they have no 



THE TOXES OF THE EMOTIONS. 141 

knowledge of the operation of nature on the human 
voice, when it gives utterance to thoughts of " love,*' 
or to descriptions of the " beautiful." These superfi- 
cial students select the semitone (usually), as being the 
nearest approach, to the tone of which they are in 
quest, and the consequence is that some of the sweet- 
est and tenclerest passages in the language, the most 
vivid descriptions of the beautiful, the impassioned 
eloquence of love — all are given with a lugubrious in- 
tonation, absurd in the extreme. The 'semitone is the 
symbol of sorrow, as has been observed before ; and in 
portraying grief and the like, the minor keys, pecu- 
liarly characteristic of the "plaintive," are employed. 
Listen to your friend's raptures on a lovely starlight 
or moonlight night ; to his description of a charming 
landscape which he has just enjoyed ; if you could be 
the third party to a love-scene ! note how each impulse 
of the voice is commenced with a fullness of voice, a 
roundness of intonation, which gradually dies away, 
but at no period of the impulse merges into a half 
tone. 

By an "impulse" I desire to indicate the amount of 
intonation employed on one word generally — one effort 
of the voice ; and the vanishing movement is made on a 
whole tone not on a half tone ; a term which happily 
expresses this intonation is the "imperceptible van- 
ish." The pupil must exercise taste and judgment in 
the use of this tone, giving it on the principal words 
only in the sentence, and the degree of power must be 
determined by the depth or the earnestness of the 
words. 



142 THE TONES OF THE EMOTIONS. 

Here follow some exercises on the diminuendo >. 

Ingoldsby : 

O sweet and beautiful is night 

When the silver moon is high, 

And countless stars, like clustering gems, 

Hang sparkling in the sky ; 

While the balmy breath of the summer breeze 

Comes whispering down the glen, 

And one fond voice alone is heard, 

O Nifjht is lovely then. 

Twelfth Night, Act 1, Sc. 1 

If music be the food of love, play on, 
Give me excess of it ; that surfeiting, 
The appetite may sicken and so die — 
That strain again ; — it had a dying fall : 
O it came o'er my ear like the sweet south, 
That breathes upon a bank of violets, 
Stealing and giving odor. 

The contemplation of the " beautiful," whether sen- 
sibly or mentally, tends to fill the .beholder with 
pleasure ; and this delight is shown in the countenance, 
so that a smiling or pleased expression of face (which 
it is so easy to assume) will materially aid the reader 
in giving the vocal expression. 

The diminuendo requires moderate force at the be- 
ginning of each word, which you desire to mark by 
it; that moderate force should gradually become less 



THE TONES OF THE EMOTIONS. 143 

and less, until at the termination of the word it 
lias vanished into inaudibility, or has become a 
mere point of sound. Perhaps this little illustration 
will convey a better idea of my meaning to some 
minds: OOOOOOO. Pronounce the word ' ; oh" with 
lessening degrees of force ; prolonging the word, but 
not repeating it on each impulse ; then practise the 
intonation on a higher key, using the same word, 
"oh," " OOOOOOO"; now practise it on a lower; 
then change freely about from one key to another. 

The next exercise is a very easy example of the 
vanishing movement, and pupils who find any diffi- 
culty in acquiring it, would do well to practise with 
this before taking the two that have been already 
given : 

" In such an hour are told the hermit's beads ; 

With the white sail the seaman's hymn floats by : 
Peace be with all ! whate'er their varying creeds, 
With all that send up holy thoughts on high ! 
Come to me, my boy — by Guadalquiver's vines, 
By every stream of Spain, as day declines, 
Man's prayers are mingled in the sky." 

— Mrs. Hemans. 

c; Lament of Mary Queen of Scots, at the approach 
of Spring": 

" My son, my son, may kinder stars 
Upon thy fortune shine ; 
And may those pleasures gild thy reign, 



144: THE TONES OF THE EMOTIONS. 

That ne'er wad blink on mine. 
God keep thee frae thy mother's faes ; 

Or turn their hearts to thee : 

And where thou meets t thy [mother's friend^, 

Remember him for me." 

— Burns. 

A beautiful bit of word-painting from " Sella' s 
Fairy Slippers": 

"My friend 
Named the strange growths, the pretty coralline ; 
The dulse with crimson leaves, and streaming far, 
Sea-thong and sea-lace. Here the tangle spread 
Its broad thick fronds, with pleasant bowers beneath ; 
And oft we trod a waste of pearly sands 
Spotted with rosy shells, and thence looked in 
At caverns of the sea whose rock-roofed halls 
Lay in blue twilight." 

— William Cullen Bryant. 

In the following the degree of pleasurable thought 
increases at each verse — so should the diminuendo be 
more and more marked : — 

There are some hearts Qike wells green-mossed and deep] 

As ever summer saw ; 
And cool their water is — yea, cool and sweet ; — 

But you must come to draw. 
They hoard not, yet they rest in calm content, 

And not unsought will give ; 
They can be quiet with their wealth unspent, 

So self-contained they live. 






THE TONES OF THE EMOTIONS. 115 

And there are some [like springs that bubbling bursty 

To follow dusty ways, 
And run with offered cup to quench his thirst 

Where the tired traveler strays ; 
That never ask the meadows if they want 

What is their joy to give ; 
Unasked their lives to other life they grant, 

So self -bestowed they live ! 

And One is — Qike the ocean, deep and wide! ; 

Wherein all waters fall 
That girdles the broad earth, and draws the tide, 

Feeding and bearing all. 
That broods the mists, and sends the clouds abroad, 

That takes again to give ; 
Even the great and loving heart of God, 

Whereby all Love doth live. 

— Living Waters, by Caroline Spencer. 

In this example from " Byron " the " imperceptible 
vanish " should be employed on almost every word to 
depict the sweetness : 

* * * 'Tis sweet to hear, 
At midnight on the blue and moonlit deep, 
The song and oar of Adria's gondolier, 
By distance mellowed, o'er the waters sweep ; 
'Tis sweet to see the evening stars appear ; 

m 'Tis sweet to listen, as the night-winds creep 

:> :> . - 

From leaf to leaf ; 'tis sweet to view on high 

The rain-bow, based on ocean, span the sky. 

7 



146 THE TONES OF THE EMOTIONS. 

* * 'Tis sweet to be awakened by the lark, 
Or lulled by falling waters ; sweet the hum 
Of bees, the [voice of girlsl, the [song of birds!, 
The tlisp of children], and their earliest words. 

In these lines no touch of the "semitone" must be 
given, but strictly the " diminuendo," to give a cor- 
rect interpretation of the sentiment, in which " sor- 
row " takes no part : 

" How beautiful is night ! 
A dewy freshness fills the silent air, 
jSfo mist obscures, nor cloud, nor speck, nor stain, 

Breaks the serene of Heaven : 
In full-orb'd glory yonder moon divine 

Rolls through the dark blue depths. 

Beneath her steady ray 

The desert circle spreads 
Like the round ocean, girdled with the sky." 

§ 6.— THE SEMITONE. 

This is the symbol of sorrow and grief, but from 
these spring other emotions, which are expressed by 
the semitone in a greater or a lesser degree, according 
to their intensity or the contrary ; some of these are 
penitence, condolence, compassion, mercy, commisera- 
tion, pity. When sorrow for evils endured $ or ex- 
pected, are at the foundation of fatigue, pain, or sup- 
plication, then are these emotions depicted by the 
semitone. In "sorrow" the "time" is slow; and 



THE TONES OF THE EMOTIONS. 147 

this "slow time" is naturally secured by dwelling on 
the vowel sounds in the words, and not by "pauses " 
between the words. Then the "key" should be now 
high, now low, as taste and judgment direct. Some 
persons succeed in giving the semitone, but they do 
not portray " sorrow " when they speak in a single, 
monotonous whine. Vary the semitone, let it be now 
grave, now acute, and so on. If the pupil's ear is not 
sufficiently familiar with the difference between tones 
and "half tones," they should be sounded on the 
piano, and the class made to accompany with their 
voices. They should ascend and descend on whole 
tones, then on half tones, and eventually they should 
be required to pronounce with the pianist a " broken " 
melody — tones and half tones being given at irregular 
distances. Practice first with this intonation the pas- 
sage from King John, given in the first part of this 
division ; then take the following as an exercise. The 
second line requires a higher key than the first line, 
and the third line a lower key than either ; the fourth 
line may perhaps be given at about the same altitude 
as the first. For the second verse vary the arrange- 
ment of keys as you please, being careful to keep 
within the bounds of good taste. 

Few and short were the prayers we said, 

And we spoke not a word of sorrow ; 
But we steadfastly gazed on the face that was dead, 

And we bitterly thought of the morrow. 

We thought as we hollowed his narrow bed, 
And smoothed down his lonely pillow, 



148 THE TONES OF THE EMOTIONS. 

That the foe and the stranger would tread o'er his 
head, 
And we far away on the billow. 
— Burial of Sir John More, by Rev. Chas. Wolfe. 

A sad reflection, from the " Nevermore," by Dante 
Gabriel Kossetti : 

" Look in my face ; my name is [Might-have-been! ; 
I am also called—" No-more," " Too-late," "Farewell "; 
Unto thine ear, I hold the dead sea-shell 
Cast up, thy life's foam-fretted feet between ; 
Unto thine eyes, the glass where that is seen 
Which had Life's form, and Love's, but by my spell, 
Is now a shaken shadow intolerable, 
Of ultimate things unuttered, the frail screen." 

These two verses, from Mrs. Browning's " Bertha in 
the Lane," require a plaintive minor key, with a slight 
occasional touch of the diminuendo : 

" And, dear Bertha, let me keep 

On my hand this little ring, 
Which at nights, when others sleep, 

I can still see glittering ; 
Let me wear it out of sight, 
In the grave, — where it will light 
All the dark up, day and night. 

" On that grave drop not a tear ! 

Else, though fathom-deep the place, 
Through the woollen shroud I wear 
I shall feel it on my face. 



THE TONES OF THE EMOTIONS. 149 

Rather smile there, blessed one ; 
Thinking of me in the sun, — 
Or forget me, smiling on ! " 

This pathetic morceau, from Robert Buchanan's 
" Little Ned," requires semitones, but not a* great va- 
riety of them ; the range should be limited as in re- 
pressed grief: 

* * " And one cold day in winter time, when 
mother 
Had gone away into the snow, and we 
Sat close for warmth and cuddled one another ; 
He put his little head upon my knee, 
. And went to sleep, and would not stir a limb, 
But looked quite strange and old ; 
And when I shook him, kissed him, spoke to him, 
He smiled ; — and grew so cold. 
Then I was frightened and cried out, and none 
Could hear me ; while I sat and nursed his head 
Watching the whitened window, while the sun 
Peeped in upon his face and made it red, 
And I began to sob,— till mother came, 
Knelt down, and screamed, and named the good God's 

name, 
And told me he was dead. 

And when she put his night-gown on, and weeping 
Placed him among the rags upon his bed, 
I thought that brother Ned was only sleeping, 
And took his little hand and felt no fear. 
But when the place grew gray and cold and drear, 
And the round moon over the roofs came creeping, 
And put a silver shade 



150 THE TONES OF THE EMOTIONS. 

All round the chilly bed where he was laid, 
I cried, and was afraid." 

Here are two verses from the poem which relates 

"Little Gretchen's" wanderings on "New Year's 



****** 

" And she remembered her of tales her mother used to 

tell, 
And of the cradle-songs she sang, when summer's twi- 
light fell; 
Of good men, and of angels, and of the Holy Child, 
Who was cradled in a manger, when winter was most 

wild; 
Who was poor, and cold, and hungry, and desolate, 

and lone; 
And she thought the song had told, he was ever with 

his own; 
And all the poor and hungry, and forsaken ones are 

his, — 
' How good of him to look on me in such a place as 

this ! ' 

In her scant and tattered garments, with her back 

against the wall, 
She sitteth cold and rigid; she answers to no call. 
They have lifted her up fearfully, they shuddered as 

they said, 
' It was a bitter, bitter night ! the child is frozen dead.' 
The angels sang their greeting for one more redeemed 

from sin; 
Men said, ' It was a bitter night : would no one let her 



in 



9> 



THE TONES OF THE EMOTIONS. 151 

And they shivered as they spoke of her, and sighed. 

They could not see 
How much of happiness there was after that misery. 5 ' 

§ 7.-JOY. 

The joyous intonation is characterized by a light, 
quick " skipping " of the voice, up and down the scale ; 
not reaching a very high nor a very low key, unless 
the emotion is excessive ; the greater the degree of 
joy, the greater the range of voice, and the faster the 
time in changing from one key to another. The 
words are pronounced on whole tones, but the 
voice skips about up and down the scale, but not with 
regularity — tripping about among the notes within a 
reasonable compass. The vowel sounds are all pro- 
nounced in quick time ; they are not dwelt upon as in 
sorrow. If a mere " pleasure " is taken in the thoughts 
expressed, the intonation is the same, but the range of 
notes is contracted, and the " time " slower than in ex- 
cessive joy. In the following exercise we have simply 
pleasure in the thoughts conveyed; occasionally the 
diminuendo is required : — 

" On her white breast, a sparkling cross she wore, 
Which Jews might kiss, and infidels adore. 
Her lively looks a sprightly mind disclose, 
Quick as her eyes, and as unfix'd as those: 
Favors to none, to all she smiles extends; 
Oft she rejects, but never once offends. 
Bright as the sun, her eyes the gazers strike, 
And like the sun, they shine on all alike. 



152 THE TONES OF THE EMOTIONS. 

Yet graceful ease, and sweetness void of pride, 
Might hide her faults, if belles had faults to hide; 
If to her share some female errors fall, 
Look on her face and you'll forget them all. 

— Rape of the JLocJc. 

The next is of the same order, but the dimin- 
uendo " is more prominent than in the preceding ex- 
ample : 

" O the pleasing, pleasing anguish, 
When we love, and when we languish ! 

Wishes rising, 

Thoughts surprising, 

Pleasure courting, 

Charms transporting, 

Fancy viewing', 

Joys ensuing, 
O the pleasing, pleasing anguish." 

— Rosamond, Act 1, Sc. 2. 

A verse or two from S. II. Dana's " Pleasure-boat " 
will give good practice for the joyous intonation. 

Come, hoist the sail, the furl let go ! 

They're seated side by side; 
Wave chases wave in pleasant flow; 

The bay is fair and wide. 

The ripples lightly tap the boat, 

Loose ! Give her to the wind ! 
She shoots ahead; they're all afloat; 

The strand is far behind. 



THE TONES OF THE EMOTIONS. 153 

Careening to the wind, they reach, 

With laugh and call, the shore. 
They've left their footprints on the beach, 

But them, I hear no more. 



§ 8.— THE ASPIRATE. 

This is the symbol of hate, secrecy, surprise, with 
different modifications of tone for each ; that is, the 
aspirate is the special characteristic of each, but it 
alone would by no means constitute the expression of 
the emotion. Hate is expressed usually on one of the 
lowest keys given with force, and employs also the 
guttural vibration ; these, with a strong degree of the 
aspirate, depicts the passion. Secrecy takes more of 
the aspirate, and less vocal force, and is delivered on a 
higher key than hate. Surprise takes much less of the 
aspirate than the preceding ; it is given on a higher 
key also : if the emotion is pleasurable, the voice 
travels in an upward direction through several keys 
at each impulse ; if the surprise be disagreeable, the 
voice travels on a downward direction through several 
keys at each impulse. . 

Earnestness, intensity, horror, and curiosity are all 
marked by the aspirate. The pupil on reflection will 
perceive that the passions spoken of first, " hate," etc., 
or their primal causes, are in one way or another at 
the foundation of earnestness, intensity, and so on ; 
that they are all akin — branches of the same family ; 
for hate is the foundation of horror ; a desire, or ex- 
pectation of surprise, is at the root of curiosity. Self- 



15i THE TONES OF THE EMOTIONS. 

love, in some form or other, is the basis both of hate 
and of earnestness; and in intensity the feeling that 
produces the intense expression is so important to us, 
that nature feels that common vocal utterance is in- 
adequate to express the feeling (and here self-love may 
be at work again), so she endeavors to add strength to 
her enunciation by the aspirate. 

As an exercise for the practice of the aspirate in 
hate, take the following from the Merchant of Ven ice. 
Act 1, Sc. 9 :— 

Shy. To bait fish withal: if it will feed nothing else, 
it will feed my revenge. He hath disgraced me, and 
hindered me of half a million; laughed at my losses, 
mocked at my gains, scorned my nation, thwarted my 
bargains, cooled my friends, heated mine enemies; and 
what's his reason ? I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes ? 
hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affec- 
tions, passions ? fed with the same food, hurt with the 
same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by 
the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter 
and summer, as a Christian is ? if you prick us, do we 
not bleed ? if you tickle us, do we not laugh ? if you poi- 
son us, do we not die ? and if you wrong us, shall we not 
revenge ? if we are like you in the rest, we will resemble 
you in that. If a Jew wrong a Christian, what is his 
humility ? revenge ; if a Christian wrong a Jew, what 
should his sufferance be by Christian example ? why, re- 
venge. The villainy you teach me, I will execute ; and 
it shall go hard, but I will better the instruction. 

The prevailing passion in this speech is hate j the 



THE TONES OF THE EMOTIONS. 155 

interrogatives are so in form merely ; they are assertive 
in spirit ; there are points at which a climax is reached 
— the mode and the circumstances requiring it are 
explained under the section " Climax." Contempt, 
scorn, and the sneer, all take more or less of the aspi- 
rate ; but it is not their chief characteristic. 

In the next example the words underlined with a 
running mark ~~~~ require the aspirate; and as an 
exercise I would advise the aspirate to be given very 
strongly ; not but that it might be correct to read the 
lines with less of the " aspirate," but it is the culture 
of that particular quality of tone that we want, and 
skilful surgeons usually cut beyond the wound to make 
the cure complete : — 

Miter Marcius. 
Com. Who v s yonder, 
That does appear as he were flay'd ? O gods ! 
He has the stamp of Marcius; and I have 
Before-time seen him thus. 
Mar. Come I too late 't 

Com. The shepherd knows not thunder from a tabor 
More than I know the sound of Marcius' tongue 
From every meaner man's. 
Mar. Come I too late ? 

Com. Ay, if you come not in the blood of others, 
But mantled in your own. 

— Coriolanus, Act 1, Sc. 6. 

This from King John is a fine exercise : — ■• 



156 THE TONES OF THE EMOTIONS. 

" If thou didst but consent 
To this most cruel act do but despair, 
And if thou wantst a cord, the smallest thread 
Will serve to strangle thee, a rush will be a beam, 
To hang thee on ; or wouldst thou drown thyself, 
{Fast time.) 

Put but a little water in a spoon, 

And it shall be as all the ocean, 
Enough to stifle such a villain up ! 
I do suspect thee very grievously, 

Aspirate intensity : 

But see how swift advance and shift 
Trees behind trees — row by row. 
How cleft by cleft, rocks bend and lift 
Their frowning foreheads as we go ! 
The giant snouted crags — ho ! ho ! 
How they snort, and how they blow. 

— Faust 

§ 9.— PRAISE. 

Let tis mark the differences between the intonations 
of "joy" and of "praise." 1 In joy the voice skips 
about from one tone to another; — the movement is 
discrete. In "praise" the voice moves steadily and 
concretely through several tones at each impulse, and 
the word is finished on a higher key (several keys 
rather) than the one on which it was commenced. 
These kind of " notes" will give an idea of the intona- 
tion of joy : 



THE TONES OF THE EMOTIONS. 157 



( 
( m ( ( ( 

m ( m ( m J 

( * ( m J 

' ( » ( ( 



and these of praise : 

■ 1 ' / 

m 

The intonation of " penitence " we have learned is 
given with the " semitone," and the great mistake that 
clergymen usually make in the rendering of these in- 
tonations is that of giving psalms of " praise " with the 
penitential " semitone," leading one to suppose from 
their "tones" that it is a sad and melancholy task to 
be obliged to ' f praise the Lord," or to exhort others 
so to do. To counteract the effects of bad habits as 
well as to cultivate the tones natural to each of these 
emotions, the student should read a psalm of praise 
and recur at every verse to a penitential verse, alter- 
nately ; or, if he prefers, giving the verse of penitence 
at intervals only. Also it will be desirable to give an 
occasional verse with the didactic, or simply intellec- 
tual intonation ; by this last I mean that intonation of 
voice which states facts, or speaks of things as they 
are, without emotion of any sort. 

Psalms of praise : 

1 Praise ye the Lord. Praise ye the Lord from the 
heavens : praise him in the heights, 



158 THE TONES OF THE EMOTIONS. 

2 Praise ye him, all Lis angels : praise ye him, all his 
hosts. 

3 Praise ye him, sun and moon : praise him, all ye 
stars of light. 

4 Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters 
that be above the heavens. 

D. 

5 Let them praise the name of the Lord : for he com- 
manded, and they were created. 

6 He hath also stablished them for ever and ever : he 

hath made a decree which shall not pass. 
p. 

7 Praise the Lord from the earth, ye dragons, and all 

deeps : 

8 Fire, and hail ; snow, and vapour ; stormy wind ful- 
filling his word : 

9 Mountains, and all hills ; fruitful trees, and all 
cedars : 

10 Beasts, and all cattle ; creeping things, and flying 
fowl : 

11 Kings of the earth, and all people ; princes, and all 
judges of the earth : 

12 Both young men, and maidens ; old men, and chil- 
dren : 

13 Let them praise the name of the Lord : for his 
name alone is excellent ; his glory is above the earth and 
heaven. 

14 He also exalteth the horn of his people, the praise 
of all his saints ; even of the children of Israel, a people 
near unto him. Praise ye the Lord. 

Psalm of penitence— semitone : 

1 Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lov- 



THE TONES OF THE EMOTIONS. 159 

ing-kinclness : according unto the multitude of thy tender 
mercies blot out my transgressions. 

2 Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and 
cleanse me from my sin. 

3 For I acknowledge my transgressions : and my sin 
is ever before me. 

4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done 
this evil in thy sight : that thou mightest be justified 
when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest. 

5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity ; and in sin did my 
mother conceive me. 

6 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts : and 
in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. 

7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean : wash 
me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 

8 Make me to hear joy and gladness ; that the bones 
which thou hast broken may rejoice. 

9 Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine 
iniquities. 

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God ; and renew a 
right spirit within me. 

11 Cast me not away from thy presence ; and take not 
thy Holy Spirit from me. 

12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation ; and up- 
hold me with thy free Spirit. 

13 Then will I teach transgressors thy ways ; and sin- 
ners shall be converted unto thee. 

14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God 
of my salvation : and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy 
righteousness. 

15 O Lord, open thou my lips ; and my mouth shall 
shew forth thy praise. 



160 THE TONES OF THE EMOTIONS. 

16 For thou desirest not sacrifice ; else would I give 
it : thou delightest not in burnt offering. 

17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit : a broken 
and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. 

18 Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion : build 
thou the walls of Jerasalem. 

Didactic : — 

19 Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of 
righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offer- 
ing : then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar. 

The didactic verses in the 148th Psalm are the fifth 
and sixth. These verses should be brought in con- 
trast with the rest to make the distinction obvious. 

§ 10.— SARCASM. 

When we are in earnest we use upright ^ and 
downright >. inflections ; in " sarcasm," on the con- 
trary, we do not mean our w T ords just as they are / 
the sarcastic expression is obtained by a combination 
of the upward <*" and downward \ inflections, which 
will give us the circumflex w, and the downward \ 
and upward /, which will give us the circumflex ^ ; 
and these circumflexes alternated and adjoined will 
give the " sarcastic " expression or intonation to our 
words, ^ w s-^^s v^> 

Example from Cowper on " Conversation": 

* * * Vociferated logic kills me quite, 
A noisy man is always in the right, 
'Tis the most asinine employ on earth 



THE TONES OF THE EMOTIONS. 161 

To hear them tell of parentage and birth, 
And echo conversations dull and dry, 
Embellished with " he said " and "so said I." 

I pity bashful men who feel the pain 

Of fancied scorn and undeserved disdain, 

And bear the marks upon a blushing face 

Of needless shame, and self-imposed disgrace. 

Our sensibilities are so acute, 

The fear of [being silent!, makes us mute. 

True modesty is a discerning grace, 

And only blushes in the proper place ; 

But counterfeit is blind, and skulks through fear, 

Where 'tis a shame to be ashamed to appear ; 

Humility the parent of the first, 

The last by vanity produced and nursed. 

We next inquire, but softly and by stealth, 

Like conservators of the public health, 

Of epidemic throats, if such there are, 

And coughs and rheums and phthisics and catarrh. 

Here is another example of sarcasm from Merchant 
of Venice, Act 1, Sc. 3 : 

Shy. Signior Antonio, many a time and oft, 
In the Rialto you have rated me 
About my monies, and my usances : 
Still have I borne it with a patient shrug ; 
For sufferance is the badge of all our tribe: 
You call me — misbeliever, cut-throat dog, 



162 THE TONES OF THE EMOTIONS. 

And spit upon my Jewish gaberdine, 
And all for use of that which is mine own. 
Well, then, it now appears, you need my help : 
Go to then ; you come to me, and you say, 
" Shylock, we would have monies "; You say so : 
. r You, that did void your rheum upon my beard, 
5j -J And foot me, as you spurn a stranger cur 
^ ' Over your threshold ; monies is your suit. 
What should I say to you ? Should I not say, 
Hath a dog money ? is it possible, 
A cur can lend three thousand ducats ; or 
Shall I bend low, and in a bondman's key, 
With 'bated breath, and whispering humbleness, 

Say this, 

Fair sir, you spit on me on Wednesday last, 
You spurn'd me such a day ; another time 
You call'd me — dog ; and for these courtesies 
I'll lend you thus much monies. 

Shylock does not mean the words "just as they 
stand "; he means, in fact, that he should say the op- 
posite of "Fair sir," etc., and by combining the cir- 
cumflexes we have exactly the intonation of sar- 
casm. 

Scorn takes the double circumflex, but with more 
force than sarcasm, and a considerable measure of the 
" aspirate " — as when Lady Macbeth says : 

" My hands are of your colour ! 
But I shame to wear a heart so white ! " 

The " sneer " is also given w T ith the double circumflex, 



THE TONES OF THE EMOTIONS. 163 

but without force, and only a slightly aspirated tone ; 
as when in the same play Lady M. says : 

"What beast was't then,' 
That made ycu break this enterprise to me ? 
"When you durst do it, then you were a man : 
And, to be more than what you were, you would 
Be so much more the man." 

As she goes on farther in the same speech, the sneer 
merges into " anger," which requires abrupt force to 
give it due expression. Irony is neither so bitter nor 
so strong as sarcasm, so that the "ironical,-' which 
usually expresses censure in the language of praise, 
takes the undulations of tone peculiar to sarcasm ; but 
these tones belie the words and pleased expression of 
face. Irony takes less "force" than sarcasm. The 
"wave" of the voice is less in "contempt," but the 
aspirate is infinitely more powerful. 

The following is an illustration of varied intona- 
tions, scorn, contempt and sarcasm being the princi- 
pal ; from Julius Ccesar, Act I, Sc. 2 : 

(Flourish and shout.') 
JBru. What means this shouting ? I do fear, the 
people 

Choose Caesar for their king. 
Cas. Ay, do you fear it ? 

Then must I think you would not have it so. 

Bru. I would not, Cassius ; yet I love him well: — 

But wherefore do you hold me here so long ? 

What is it that you would impart to me ? 

If it be aught toward the general good, 



164 THE TONES OF THE EMOTIONS. 

Set honour in one eye, and death i' the other, 
And I will look on both indifferently : 
For, let the gods so speed me, as I love 
The name of honour more than I fear death. 

Cas. I know that virtue to be in you, Brutus, 
As well as I do know your outward favour. 
Well, Uionoitrt is the subject of my story. — 
I cannot tell, what you and other men 
Think of this life ; but, for my single self, 
I had as lief not be, as live to be 
In awe of such a thing as I myself. 
1 was born as free as Ccesar; so were you : 
We both have fed as well ; and we can both 
Endure the winter's cold, as well as he. 
For once, upon a raw and gusty day, 
The troubled Tiber chafing with her shores, 
Caesar said to me, Dar'st thou, Cassius, now 
Leap in with me into this angry flood, 
And swim to yonder point ? — Upon the word, 
Accouter'd as I was, I plunged in, 
And bade him follow : so, indeed, he did. 
The torrent roar'd ; and we did buffet it 
With lusty sinews ; throwing it aside 
And stemming it with hearts of controversy. 
But ere we could arrive the point proposed, 
Csesar cried, Help me, Cassius, or I sink. 
I, as iEneas, our great ancestor, 
Did from the flames of Troy upon his shoulder 
The old Anchises bear, so, from the waves of Tiber 
Did I the tired Caesar : And this man 
Is now become fa god^ ; and Cassius is 



THE TONES OF THE EMOTIONS. 165 

A wretched creature, and must bend his body, 

If Caesar carelessly but nod on him. 

He had a fever when he was in Spain, 

And, when the fit was on him, I did mark 

How he did shake : 'tis true, this god did shake : 

His coward lips did from their colour fly ; 

And that same eye, whose bend doth awe the world, 

Did lose his lustre : I did hear him groan : 

Ay, and that tongue of his, that bade the Romans 

Mark him, and write his speeches in their books, 

Alas ! it cried, [Give me some drink, Titiniusl, 

As a sick girl. Ye gods, it doth amaze me, 

A man of such a feeble temper should 

So get the start of the majestic world, 

And bear the palm alone. (Shout. Flourish.) 

Bru. Another general shout ! 
I do believe, that these applauses are 
For some new honours that are heap'd on Caesar. 

Cas. Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world, 

Like a Colossus ; and we petty men 
Walk under his huge legs, and peep about 
To find ourselves dishonourable graves. 
Men at some time are masters of their fates : 
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, 
But in ourselves, that we are uuderlings. 
Brutus, and Caesar : What should be in that Caesar? 
Why should that name be sounded more than yours ? 
Write them together, yours is as fair a name ; 
Sound them, it doth become the mouth as well ; 
Weigh them, it is as heavy ; conjure with them, 
Brutus will start a spirit as soon as Caesar. (Shout.) 



166 THE TONES OE THE EMOTIONS. 

Now in the names of all the gods at once, 
Upon what meat doth this our Caesar feed, 
That he is grown so great ? Age thou art ashamed 
Rome, thou hast lost the "breed of noble bloods ! 
When went there by an age, since the great flood, 
But it was famed with more than with one man ? 
When could they say, till now, that talk'd of Rome, 
That her wide walks encompass'd but tone manl ? 
Now is it Rome indeed, and room enough, 
When there is in it but one only man. 

! you and I have heard our fathers say, 

There was a Brutus once, that would have brook'd 
The eternal devil to keep his state in Rome, 
As easily as a king. 

JSru. That you do love me, I am nothing jealous ; 
What you would work me to, I have some aim : 
How I have thought of this, and of these times, 

1 shall recount hereafter; for this present, 

I would not, so with love I might entreat you, 

Be any farther moved. What you have said, 

I will consider ; what you have to say, 

I will with patience hear : and find a time 

Both meet to hear, and answer, such high things, 

Till then, my noble friend, chew upon this ; 

Brutus had rather be a villager, 

Then to repute himself a son of Rome 

Under these hard conditions as this time 

Is like to lay upon us. 

Gas. I am glad that my weak words 
Have struck but thus much shew of fire from Brutus. 



THE TONES OF THE EMOTIONS. 167 



§ 11.— THE THROAT VOICE. 

This is the sign of execration, disgust, aversion. 
This guttural intonation is caused by a drawing back 
of the tongue, and a closing of the pharynx, produ- 
cing those harsh vibrations which are heard in the ex- 
pression of the above-named emotions. In practising 
the exercises given for the acquirement of facility in 
rendering passages which need the throat voice, the 
student will give great prominence to all the conso- 
nants ; especially " c " (having the sound of " t "), " r," 
"t," and"d." " 

Examples : 



JBass. If it please you to dine with us. 

Shy. Yes, to smell pork ; to eat of the habitation 
which your prophet, the JSTazarite, conjured the devil into. 
I will buy with you, sell with you, talk with you, walk 
with you, and so following ; but I will not eat with you, 
drink with you, nor pray with you. What news on the 
Rialto ? Who is he comes here ? — Merchant of Venice, 

You common cry of curs ! whose breath I hate, 
As reek o' the rotten fens, whose loves I prize 
As the dead carcases of unburied men 
That do corrupt my air, I banish you ; 
And here remain, with your uncertainty ! 

— Goriolanus. 



CHAPTEE VI. 

GESTURE. 

"TTTTTH the Romans "Actio" comprised the 
* * general delivery, or what is now called Elocu- 
tion; " JElocutio" — the choice of words or diction. 
Dr. Blair translates " Actio " as delivery. 

It has been erroneously said that " Gestures should 
not he practised," but that " if the speaker be in ear- 
nest the gesture will follow." This is perhaps true, 
but those gestures, more frequently than otherwise, 
will be crude and ungraceful ; especially if the speaker 
be not of a gesticulating temperament or nation. Yery 
often the speaker or reciter does not feel what he is 
saying, and requires as consummate " art " in gesture 
as in intonation, emphasis, etc., to plant belief in his 
words in the minds of his audience. Therefore I 
would enforce upon students of elocution the neces- 
sity of practising gesture. The involuntary gestures 
which they afterwards make, in excitement perhaps, 
will often be very different from those which they 
have practised, yet even these will have been immeas- 
urably improved. 

The movement should as a usual thing proceed from 
the superior part of the body — that is, from the 
shoulder, not the elbow ; from the thigh, not the knee ; 



GESTURES. 169 

from the knuckle, not the finger-joint; else the ges- 
tures will be extremely awkward, angular, and un- 
graceful. 

Generally, voice, features and limbs should simulta- 
neously express the same passion and thought. In 
ill-suppressed feeling, etc., however, the gestures will 
precede the voice. 

Decision of action is more important than grace. 
The most ungraceful action, if decided, will be more 
effective than the most graceful without decision. 
Study repose. Observe the manner in which passions 
and emotions are expressed in real life. "When you 
attempt to express any passion by gesture, inspire your- 
self with that secondary kind of feeling, which the ima- 
gination is capable of exciting, and then follow feel- 
ing with this observance, that you " o'erstep not the 
modesty of nature." 

The language of gesture is not confined to the more 
vehement passions. Upon every subject and occasion 
on which we speak, some kind of " feeling " accom- 
panies the words, and this feeling has always its ap- 
propriate gesture. I would advise my readers to ob- 
serve the attitudes and actions in paintings and sculp- 
ture ; also those of actors and orators. Practice atti- 
tudes and actions by themselves without words— just 
as a vocalist studies vocal expression apart from songs, 
or a danseuse, steps and figures apart from the dance, 
of which they form a part. Cicero says, that " those 
who have learned at the PalEestra are distinguished, 
even in other exercises, by their grace and agility; 
they who have learned to dance elegantly are also 



170 GESTURE. 

easily distinguished in all their motions from the 
untaught, even when they are not dancing. And the 
gesture also of the well-instructed speaker, even in its 
most trivial movements, is altogether different from 
neglected rudeness. 

In all the parts of general discourse that turn upon 
mere reasoning, or when precision in stating mere 
doctrinal arguments is necessary, the simply intellec- 
tual style of gesture and delivery may be used. Pro- 
priety is the essence of real oratorical grace. 

If vehemence be used in trifles, solemnity upon 
commonplace, pathos where there is nothing interest- 
ing, or dignity displayed where there is none in the 
sentiment, the result is affectation, which will impose 
only upon the ignorant ; on the thoughtful mind the 
effect is such as the profligate produces when he 
descants on piety, or the coward on valor. 

Abrupt, short and angular actions, if they bear the 
stamp of truth, are proper, as those of an old man 
under irritation ; and, if ill applied, the most flowing 
and beautiful motions, the finest transitions of gesture, 
will become indecorous or offensive. In writing, even 
an appropriate term must not be used too frequently, 
and in this art the same action must not be too fre- 
quent. Aim at variety. 

Gestures may be divided into intentional and unin- 
tentional, natural and artificial movements. A third 
class of gestures are termed " complex." 

1. Natural or unintentional movements; as, a 
change of color produced by shame, or trembling oc- 
casioned by fear. 



GESTURE. 171 

2. Intentional or artificial gestures ; as, the finger 
on the lips to enjoin silence, the figure drawn upward 
in pride, the arm extended in authority. 

3. Complex gestures formed by the combination of 
simple gestures ; as, in " terror," the person will seek 
to escape the cause of fear — should it be a lion, by the 
foot extended to run, the hands held out to avoid ob- 
stacles which might impede, the head turned back to 
watch if the animal be in pursuit. 



SIMPLE INTENTIONAL OR ARTIFICIAL 
GESTURES. 

The Head. 

To hang down the head implies " shame." 

To hold it up, "valor," "pride." 

To toss it back, " disagreement." 

A forward inclination, " bashfulness." 

A forward nod, " assent." 

The head averted, " antipathy," horror." 

The head leans forward in earnest attention. 

The Eyes 

Weep in " sorrow." 
Burn or flash in " anger." 
Are downcast or turned away in " displeasure." 
Raised in "prayer" and "supplication." 
Look on vacancy in " thought." 
Are cast about in different directions in " doubt " or 
" mental trouble." 



172 GESTURE. 



The Arms 

Are spread, extended or elevated in " admiration." 

Held forward, when " imploring." 

They drop suddenly in " disappointment " or " de- 
spair." 

An arm is held straight before the person in 
' : authority." 

The Hands. 

The hand on the head denotes " suffering." 
The hand on the eyes, " confusion." 
The hand on the lips desires " silence." 
The hand on the breast indicates "hope," and also 
appeals to conscience. 

The hand waved or shaken, "joy" and " disdain." 

The hands are clasped in u prayer." 

The hands descend with palm down in " blessing." 

The hands are wrung in " affliction." 

The hands held forward, palm up, in " friendship." 

The Body. 

An upright carriage denotes " courage." 
Held backward, " self-importance." 
Inclined forward, " compassion," " courtesy." 
Bent, "reverence." 
Prostrated in " extreme humility." 

The Limbs. 

In an immovable position, " determination." 
Knees bent in " timidity." 



GESTURE. 173 

When moved uneasily, " mental disturbance." 

They advance in " expectation." 

Retire in " fear." 

Start in " fright." 

Stamp in "rage." 

Kneel in "prayer." 

COMPLEX GESTURES. 

Terror. 

The first impulse of one who suffers under this pas- 
sion is to avoid or fly from the object feared. Sup- 
pose it to be a rattlesnake, on which he has almost 
trodden : he starts back, and looks downward. If 
the danger is in the distance, the figure should be 
represented looking forward, not starting backward, 
but slowly retiring, as if taking time to decide upon a 
plan of action. 

Aversion. 
The hand (vertical) is turned back towards the face ; 
the eyes and head are eagerly directed to the object 
for an instant, the feet take a step forward ; suddenly 
the head is averted, the arms are extended toward the 
object, hands vertical, feet retired. 

Horror 
is a combination of the two passions, whose signs have 
just been described. It transfixes the person, render- 
ing him incapable of a retreat ; the eyes are riveted 
on the object ; the arm is extended, hand vertical ; 
trembling seizes the body. 



174 GESTURE. 

Admiration. 

If of natural objects that are pleasing, the hands are 
held across each other, vertical palms across the 
breast (curve lines), and are then moved slowly out- 
ward, face smiling ; if the emotion is aroused by un- 
looked-for or wonderful circumstances, the arms are 
suddenly elevated, palms supine ; eyes and face are 
turned upwards at the same moment. 

Listening, 
which is eager for quick and sure information, pre- 
sents a keen glance of the eye in the direction of the 
sounds ; if nothing is revealed the ear is turned to 
the point of interest, the eye bent on space — this is 
instantaneous ; the hand and arm are held vertical 
and extended, in a contrary direction, as if to keep off 
anything or anybody from interfering to drown the 
sounds. If the sounds proceed from different places, 
the arms are elevated, and the head moves from side 
to side — rapidly if alarmed, slowly if pleased ; the rea- 
son being that when pleased we leave one sound to 
attend to another with regret ; if frightened, we can- 
not endure to dwell long on the sounds that occasion 
the emotion. 

Veneration 

bows the head, casts down the eyes, crosses the hands 
on the breast, movements slow. Awe is supposed to 
deprive one of the power of quick volition. 



GESTURE. 175 

Deprecation, 

when extreme, sinks on one knee, clasps the hands 
tightly, throws the head back between the shoulders, 
and looks eagerly into the face of the one implored. 

Shame 

sinks on one knee, covering the eyes with the hands ; 
if not so extreme, hangs the head. 

Resignation 
falls on the knee, crosses the arms on the breast, looks 
up towards heaven slowly. 

Desperate Resignation. 

The body upright, the head thrown back, the eyes 
fixed, the arms folded. 

An Appeal to Heaven. 

First place the right hand on the breast, then ele- 
vate the left arm palm upwards, the eyes look for- 
ward, then up to heaven. 

An Appeal to Conscience. 

The right hand is placed on the breast, the left arm 
falls to the side, the eyes look steadily at the person 
addressed. 

Grief. 

vYhen the news of unexpected affliction is heard, 
the eyes are covered with the right hand, to shut out 



176 GESTURE. 

the " sight " which the speaker calls up, a step for- 
ward, the psychological impulse being to escape from 
the trouble, which thought, causes involuntary move- 
ment in an opposite direction ; the left hand is thrown 
back, the mental impulse being " I can bear no more," 
and occasions the corresponding physical action, of 
putting back or away from one. 

Attention, 

when deeply interested, places the finger on the lips ; 
the body takes a forward inclination ; quiet is urged 
with the other hand. 

Sudden Pain, 
whether mental or physical, places the palm of the 
hand on the forehead, throws the body backward ; 
these actions are accompanied by a long quick step in 
the same direction. 

Keflection 
holds the chin with the right hand, the left supports 
the elbow. Sometimes the back of the hands are 
placed on the waist, arms akimbo. 

Pride, 

in excess, elevates the head, straightens the figure, and 
places the elbow nearly forward akimbo. 

There are three great classes of gesture (comic ges- 
ticulations would make a fourth) : 
1. The Heroic. 
This accompanies descriptions of the majestic ; the 



GESTUKE. 177 

utterance of noble or sublime thoughts ; wherever the 
orotund quality of voice is appropriately applied ; one 
"who exercises this class of gesture in perfection should 
possess every natural and cultivated ability. 

2. The Oratorical. 

Precision, energy, and variety distinguish the ges- 
tures of a great orator ; they are of more importance 
to him than " grace,'' for, while the latter is seldom 
absent in the actions of an accomplished speaker, the 
former are of vital necessity. Gestures of this class 
are employed in the delivery of sermons, lectures, ar- 
guments, speeches. 

3. The Conversational. 

This is employed in what is called " light comedy," 
dialogues, colloquies, in polite society, etc. Variety, 
grace, and simplicity are the characteristics of this 
class, and the movements are more lightly executed 
than those of the two classes discussed above. 

ORDERS OF THE FIRST CLASS. 

1. Grandeur. — The arm and hand are swept 
through space with majesty and freedom ; the centre 
of motion is the shoulder ; the actions should be on a 
large scale, and commence with a graceful sweep, or 
curve line ; the changes should be made without 
effort, and other movements or inclinations of the 
body or limbs should harmonize with the main action ; 
the limbs should move with moderately long steps, 
with firmness and power. 

The opposite of "grandeur " is indicated by abrupt, 



178 GESTURE. 

constrained gesture, stiffness of the joints, and a fixed 
attitude of the body, uncertain movements, and short 
steps. 

2. Fearlessness. — A thorough confidence in and 
knowledge of one's power, will venture any action or 
attitude, which will be striking in effect, however 
novel. Unexpected situations and changes create 
wonder and pleasure by their newness and grace, and 
so enforce the thoughts they represent with marked 
success. 

The antithesis of " fearlessness " is " timidity," 
which desires but does not act boldly, is dubious as to 
its capabilities, and hesitating. 

ORDERS OF THE SECOND CLASS. 

1. Precision requires exactness of action, neatness. 
Like distinctness in utterance, gestures should be 
cleanly cut, and used at the precise moment with the 
identical word which calls for them. 

The opposite would be indecision, vague or confused 
gestures employed indiscriminately; they serve rather 
to render doubtful the speaker's meaning, instead of 
giving point to his words. 

2. Energy requires firmness, decided, straight, 
direct lines. The emphasis is greatly aided by ener- 
getic gesture. 

The opposite is weakness and uncertainty. 

3. Variety is easily acquired by those who have a 
facility in adapting fitting and different gestures to 
each thought and position. The study of " variety" 






GESTURE. 179 



will banish the tendency to frequent repetition of fav- 
orite gestures. 

The opposite is monotony, which is as fatal to ges- 
ture as to intonation. 



ORDERS OF THE THIRD CLASS. 

1. Variety. — The same as described previously. 

2. Simplicity in gesture appears the natural result 
of the situation or feelings expressed ; it neither ex- 
ceeds, nor falls below the just limit of the sentiment. 

Its opposite is " affectation." 

3. Grace is natural to some, and may be acquired 
by the many through practice. Sufficient practice on 
the flowing curve-lines of grace give a confidence in 
one's ability, which gives to self-possessed dignity 
beautiful, agreeable gestures. 

The practice of graceful gestures is confined to 
those exhibited in the best models of painting and 
sculpture, and in accordance with correct taste. 

The opposites are ungainliness, vulgarity, brusque- 
ness. 

4. Propriety in gesture is the judicious use of those 
actions best adapted to illustrate the thought. It 
arises from the just perception, the proper weighing, 
and careful timing of the action, which is neither too 
much abridged, nor too floridly displayed. 

The antithesis or negative of propriety is impropri- 
ety, contrary gestures. 

In conversational gesture the elbow instead of the 
shoulder becomes the centre of motion. The action is 



180 GESTUKE. 

made short and sharp by the hand, the fingers and 
wrist, instead of the long, flowing lines which the arm 
executes in heroic gesture. 



NATURAL PRINCIPLES IN GESTURE. 

Grace is expressed by " relaxation " curves, " curve- 
lines." In the balcony scene between Romeo and 
Juliet, these graceful curve-lines, whether of the finger, 
the hand, the arm, the inclination of the body, are 
used throughout ; therefore I insert this scene for prac- 
tice of gestures of this description ; the pupils should 
take alternate sentences, or rather speeches, and while 
delivering them slowly, be required to make appro- 
priate graceful gestures, which are all to be made up 
of " curves." 

Act 2, Scene 2. 

Romeo. " He jests at scars that never felt a wound, 
{Juliet appears above at a window.) 
But soft, what light through yonder window breaks ! 
It is the east, and Juliet is the sun ! — 
Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, 
Who is already sick and pale with grief, 
That thou her maid art far more fair than she : 
Be not her maid, since she'is envious ; 
Her vestal livery is but sick and green, 
And none but fools do wear it ; cast it ofE. — 
It is my lady ; O, it is my love. 
O, that she knew she were I — 
She speaks, yet she says nothing ; What of that ? 
Her eye discourses, I will answer it. — 



GESTURE. 181 

I am too bold, 'tis not to me she speaks : 
Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven, 
Having some business, do entreat her eyes 
To twinkle in their spheres till they return. 
What if her eyes were there, they in her head ? 
The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars, 
As daylight doth a lamp ; her eye in heaven 
Would through the airy region stream so bright, 
That birds would sing, and think it were not night. 
See how she leans her cheek upon her hand ! 
O, that I were a glove upon that hand, 
That I might touch that cheek ! 

Jul. Ah me ! 

Mom. She speaks : — ■ 
O, speak again, bright angel ! for thou art 
As glorious to this night, being o'er my head, 
As is a winged messenger of heaven 
Unto the white-upturned wond'ring eyes 
Of mortals, that fall back to gaze on him, 
When he bestrides the lazy-pacing clouds, 
And sails upon the bosom of the air. 

Jul. O Romeo, Romeo ! wherefore art thou Romeo ? 
Deny thy father, and refuse thy name : 
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, 
And I'll no longer be a Capulet. 

Mom. Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this ? 

(Aside.) 

Jul. 'Tis but thy name, that is my enemy ; — 
Thou art thyself, though not a Montague. 
What's Montague ? it is nor hand, nor foot, 
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part 
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name ! 
What's in a name ? that, which we call a rose, 



182 GESTURE. 

By any other name would smell as sweet ; 
So Romeo would, where he not Romeo call'd, 
Retain that dear perfection which he owes, 
Without that title : — Romeo, doff thy name ; 
And for that name, which is no part of thee, 
Take all myself. 

Horn. I take thee at thy word : 
Call me but love, and I'll be new baptized ! 
Henceforth I never will be Romeo. 

Jul. What man art thou, that, thus bescreen'd in 
night, 
So stumblest on my counsel ? 

Rom. By a name 
I know not how to tell thee who I am : 
My name, dear saint, is hateful to myself, 
Because it is an enemy to thee ; 
Had I it written, I would tear the word. 

Jul. My ears have not yet drunk a hundred words 
Of that tongue's utterance, yet I know the sound : 
Art thou not Romeo, and a Montague ? 

Rom. Neither, fair saint, if either thee dislike. 

Jul. How earnest thou hither ? tell me, and where- 
fore ? 
The orchard walls are high, and hard to climb ; 
And the place death, considering who thou art, 
If any of my kinsmen find thee here. 

Horn. With love's light wings did I o'er-perch these 
walls : 
For stony limits cannot hold love out : 
And what love can do, that dares love attempt ; 
Therefore thy kinsmen are no let to me. 

Jul. If they do see thee, they will murder thee. 

Horn. Alack ! there lies more peril in thine eye, 



GESTURE. 1S3 

Than twenty of their swords ; look thou but sweet, 
And I am proof against their enmity. 

Jul. I would not for the world they saw thee here. 

JRo?n. I have night's cloak to hide me from their 
sight ; 
And, but thou love me, let them find me here : 
My life was better ended by their hate, 
Than death prorogued, wanting of thy love. 

Jul. By whose direction found'st thou out this place ? 

Horn. By love, who first did prompt me to inquire ; 
He lent me counsel, and I lent him eyes. 
I am no pilot ; yet wert thou as far 
As that vast shore wash'd with the farthest sea, 
I would adventure for such merchandise. 

Jul. Thou know'st the mask of night is on my face : 
Else would a maiden blush bepaint my cheek, 
For that which thou hast heard me speak to-night 
Fain would I dwell on form, fain, fain deny 
"What I have spoke ; but farewell compliment ! 
Dost love me ? I know, thou wilt say— Ay ; 
And I will take thy word : yet, if thou swear'st 
Thou mayst prove false ; at lovers' perjuries, 
They say, Jove laughs. O gentle Romeo, 
If thou dost love, pronounce it faithfully : 
Or if thou think'st I am too quickly won, 
I'll frOwn and be perverse, and say thee nay, 
So thou wilt woo ; but, else, not for the world. 
In truth, fair Montague, I am too fond ; 
And therefore thou mayst think my haviour light : 
But trust me, gentleman, I'll prove more true 
Than those that have more cunning to be strange. 
I should have been more strange, I must confess, 
But that thou overheard'st, ere I was ware, 



184 GESTURE. 

My true love's passion : therefore pardon me 5 
And not impute this yielding to light love, 
Which the dark night hath so discovered. 

Horn. Lady, by yonder blessed moon I swear, 
That tips with silver all these fruit-tree tops, — 

Jill. O, swear not by the moon, the inconstant moon, 
That monthly changes in her circled orb, 
Lest that thy love prove likewise variable. 

Horn. What shall I swear by? 

Jul. Do not swear at all ; 
Or, if thou wilt, swear by thy gracious self, 
Which is the god of my idolatry, 
And I'll believe thee. 

Horn. If my heart's dear love— 

Jul. Well, do not swear : although I joy in thee, 
I have no joy of this contract to-night : 
It is too rash, too unadvised, too sudden ; 
Too like the lightning, which doth cease to be, 
Ere one can say — It lightens. Sweet, good night ! 
This bud of love, by summer's ripening breath, 
May prove a beauteous flower when next we meet. 
Good night, good night ! as sweet repose and rest 
Come to thy heart, as that within my breast ! 

Horn. O, wilt thou leave me so unsatisfied ? 

Jul. What satisfaction canst thou have to-night ? 

Mom. The exchange of thy love's faithful vow for 
mine. 

Jul. I gave thee mine before thou didst request it : 
And yet I would it were to give again. 

Rom. Wouldst thou withdraw it ? for what pur- 
pose, love ? 

Jul. But to be frank, and give it thee again. 
And yet I wish but for the thing I have : 



GESTURE. 1S5 

My bounty is as boundless as the sea, 
My love as deep ; the more I give to thee, 
The more I have, for both are infinite. — 

{Nurse calls loithin.) 
I hear some noise within : Dear love, adieu ! — 
Anon, good nurse !— Sweet Montague, be true. 
Stay, but a little, I will come again. 

Energy is expressed by tenseness; straight direct 

lines. 

Beat. Sweet Hero !— she is wronged, she is slandered, 
she is undone. 

Bene. Beat — 

Beat. Princes and counties ! Surely, a princely testi- 
mony, a goodly count-confect ; a sweet gallant, surely ! 
O, that I were a man for his sake ! or that I had any 
friend would be a man for my sake ! But manhood is 
melted into courtesies, valor into complinient, and men 
are only turned into tongue, and trim ones too : he is 
now as A^aliant as Hercules, that only tells a lie, and 
swears it. — I cannot be a man with wishing, therefore I 
will die a woman with grieving. 

— Much Ado about Nothing, Act 4, Sc. 1. 

Beatrice uses here the straight lines natural in ex- 
pressing energetic thought; curve-lines would belie 
the emotion with which Beatrice is filled, when 
warmly taking the part of her friend Hero. 

Affirmative. — In these gestures the hand is supine 
(or palm uppermost) ; if the facts or thoughts affirmed 
be of the " graceful " order (sentiments that express 
tenderness, affection, beauty of thought), curve-lines 



1S6 



GESTURE. 



are employed, if the thoughts be " energetic," as in 
manifestations of pride, anger, excessive joy, etc., etc., 
these curves give place to straight lines ; for the first 
order, I give a passage from the Merchant of Venice, 
as an examplification ; — Portia's speech ; — in Shylock's 
reply, gestures of the second order are employed, and 
in Bassanio eagerness in tendering the ducats; the 
same straight lines are necessary ; in the concluding 
lines from Portia " negative " gestures are predomi- 
nant. 

Pot. The quality of mercy is not strain'd ; 
It droppeth, as the gentle rain from heaven, 
Upon the place beneath ; it is twice bless'd, — 
It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes. 
"lis mightiest in the mightiest : it becomes 
The throned monarch better than his crown ; 
His sceptre shews the force of temporal power, 
The attribute to awe and majesty, 
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings ; 
But mercy is above this sceptred sway, 
It is enthroned in the hearts of kings, 
It is an attribute to God himself ; 
And earthly power doth then shew likest God's 
When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew, 
Though justice be thy plea, consider this, — 
That in the course of justice, none of us 
Should see salvation : we do pray for mercy ; 
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render 
The deeds of mercy. I have spoke thus much 
To mitigate the justice of thy plea ; 
Which if thou follow, this strict court of Venice 
Must needs give sentence 'gainst the merchant there. 



GESTURE. 187 

Shy. My deeds upon my head ! I crave the law, 
The penalty and forfeit of my bond. 

Pot. Is he not able to discharge the money ? 

Bass. Yes, here I tender it for him in the court ; 
Yea, twice the sum : if that will not suffice, 
I will be bound to pay it ten times o'er, 
On forfeit of my hands, my head, my heart , 
If this will not suffice, it must appear, 
That malice bears down truth. And I beseech you, 
Wrest once the law to your authority : 
To do a great right, do a little wrong ; 
And curb this cruel devil of his will. 

Pot. It must not be ; there is no power in Venice 
Can alter a decree established ; 
'Twill be recorded for a precedent : 
And many an error, by the same example, 
Will rush into the state : it cannot be. 

Negative. — This is expressed by the hand prone (or 
palm downward) ; if the negative be regretfully given, 
or the reproof be gentle, the negative gestures will 
partake more or less of the curved line, and the time 
be slower in giving them ; but if the thoughts, which 
prompt negative gestures, be awe-inspiring, the result 
of horror, or of shame, etc., straight lines given in 
rather faster time are necessary. I give an example 
for practice from " Measure for Measure"; the first 
lines as far as " pendent world " belonging to the first 
of these orders ; and afterwards the action grows more 
and more energetic and negative, except at the words 
" is a paradise," where elevation of hands is required, 
and strong negative on the last line : — 



188 GESTURE. 

Claud. Ay, but to die, and go we not know where ; 
To lie in cold obstruction, and to rot ; 
This sensible warm motion to become 
A kneaded clod ; and the delighted spirit 
To bathe in fiery floods, or to reside 
In thrilling regions of thick-ribbed ice ; 
To be imprison'd in the viewless winds. 
And blown with restless violence round about 
The pendent world ; or to be worse than worst 
Of those, that lawless and uncertain thoughts 
Imagine howling ! — 'tis too horrible ! 
The weariest and most loathed worldly life, 
That age, ache, penury, and imprisonment 
Can lay on nature, is a paradise 
To what we fear of death. 

— Measure for Measure. 

Acceptation. — Here the hand or hands are supine, 
the gestures direct but not energetic, they must not 
lose a certain grace ; the lines being not too much 
curved, nor yet too straight. 

Ant. I have heard, 
Your grace hath ta'en great pains to qualify 
His rigorous course ; but since he stands obdurate, 
And that no lawful means can carry me 
Out of his envy's reach, I do oppose 
My patience to his fury, and am arm'd 
To suffer, with a quietness of spirit, 
The very tyranny and rage of his. 

— Merchant of Venice. 



GESTURE. 189 

This also from Antony and Cleopatra, Act 2, Sc. 5 : 

Re-enter Iras, with a robe, crown, &c. 
Cleo. Give me my robe, put on my crown ; I have 
Immortal longings in me : Now no more 
The juice of Egypt's grape shall moist this lip : — 
Yare, yare, good Iras ; quick. — Methinks I hear 
Antony call ; I see him rouse himself 
To praise my noble act ; I hear him mock 
The luck of Caesar, which the gods give men 
To excuse their after wrath : Husband, I come : 
Now to that name my courage prove my title ! 
I am fire and air ; my other elements 
I give to baser life. — So, — have you done ? 
Come, then, and take the last warmth of my lips. 
Farewell, kind Charmian ! — Iras, long farewell ! 

Common Gestures. — These are most emphatic on 
the horizontal line, but do not repeat the gesture on 
the same emphasis. 

Example from Julias Caesar, Act 4, Sc. 1 : 

Bru. No, not an oath : if not the face of men, 
The sufferance of our souls, the time's abuse, — 
If these be motives weak, break off betimes, 
And every man hence to his idle bed ; 
So let high-sighted tyranny rage on, 
Till each man drop by lottery. But if these, 
As I am sure they do, bear fire enough 
To kindle cowards, and to steel with valour 
The melting spirits of women; then, countrymen, 
What need we any spur, but our own cause, 



190 GESTURE. 



A declarative interrogative. 

To prick us to redress ? what other bond, 

Than secret Romans, that have spoke the word. 

And will not palter? and what other oath, 

Than honesty to honesty engaged. 

That this shall be, or we will fall for it ? 

Swear priests, and cowards, and [men cautelousl, 

Old feeble carrions, and [such suffering souls 

That welcome wrongs^ ; unto bad causes swear 

Such creatures as men doubt : but do not stain 

The even virtue of our enterprise, 

Nor the in suppressive mettle of our spirits, 

To think, that, or our cause, or our performance, 

Did need an oath ; when every drop of blood, 

That every Roman bears, and nobly bears, 

Is guilty of a several bastardy, 

If he do break the smallest particle 

Of any promise that hath passed from him. 

Rejection. — Gestures which precede the words of 
rejection are improper; these actions should imme- 
diately follow the word. 

Example : 

y y \ \ \ 

P. Hen. I never thought to hear you speak again. 

K. Hen. Thy wish was father, Harry, to that 
thought ; 
I stay too long by thee, I weary thee. 
Dost thou so hunger for my empty chair, 



GESTURE. 191 

That thou wilt needs invest thee with mine honours, 
Before thy hour be ripe ? O foolish youth ! 
Thou seek'st the greatness that will overwhelm thee. 

—Henry IV, Part 2. 

In this speech of Yiola's from Twelfth Nigltt most 
of the gestures are those of rejection ; others are of 
" negation," and the pupil will distribute his gestures 
according to the sentiments expressed : 

Vio. I left no ring with her : What means this 
lady ? 
Fortune forbid, my outside have not charm'd her ! 
She made good view of me ; indeed, so much, 
That, sure, methought, her eyes had lost her tongue, 
For she did speak in starts distractedly. 
She loves me, sure ; the cunning of her passion 
Invites me in this churlish messenger. 
None of my lord's ring ! why, he sent her none. 
I am the man, — If it be so, fas 'tis,) 
Poor lady, she were better love a dream. 
Disguise, I see, thou art a wickedness, 
Wherein the pregnant enemy does much. 
How easy is it for the proper-false 
In women's waxen hearts to set their forms ! 
Alas, our frailty is the cause, not we ; 
For, such as we are made of, such we be ; 
How will this f adge ? My master loves her dearly : 
And I, poor monster, fond as much on him ; 
And she, mistaken, seems to dote on me : 
What will become of this ? As I am man 
My state is desperate for my master's love ; 
As I am woman, now alas the day ! 



192 GESTURE. 

What thriftless sighs shall poor Olivia breathe ? 

time, thou must untangle this, not I ; 
It is too hard a knot for me to untie. 

Propulsion. — Gestures of this class are used in de- 
scribing the supernatural, when fear or horror are 
accompanying emotions, also in fright of any real or 
imaginary object. The hand or hands are vertical in 
front of the breast, the fingers slightly separated, as 
endeavoring to ward or keep off the object feared. 

Examples : 

Macb. Avaunt ! and quit my sight ! Let the earth 

hide thee ! 

Thy bones are marrowless, thy blood is cold ; 

Thou hast no speculation in those eyes 

Which thou dost glare with ! 

— Macbeth. 

Brutus. ***** 

1 think it is the weakness of mine eyes, 
That shapes this monstrous apparition. 

It comes upon me : — Art thou any thing ? 
Art thou some god, some angel, or some devil, 
That makest my blood cold, and my hair to stare ? 
Speak to me, what thou art. 
Ghost. Thy evil spirit, Brutus. 

— Julius Ccesar. 

Juliet frequently uses these " propulsive " gestures 
throughout the sad scene in which she takes the poi- 
son, and acts her " dismal part alone ": 

La. Cap. Good night ! 
Get thee to bed 5 and rest ; for thou hast need. 



GESTURE. 19o 

[Exeunt Lady Capulet and Nurse. 
Jul. Farewell! — God knows when we shall meet 
again. 
I have a faint cold fear thrills through my veins, 
That almost freezes up the heat of life : 
I'll call them back again to comfort me ; — 
Nurse \ What should she do here ? 
My dismal scene I needs must act alone. — 
Come, phial. — 

What if this mixture do not work at all ? 
Must I of force be married to the county ? — 
No, no ; — this shall forbid it : — lie thou there. — 

[Laying down a dagger. 
What if it be poison, which the friar 
Subtly have minister'd to have me dead ; 
Lest in this marriage he should be dishonour'd, 
Because he married me before to Romeo. 
I fear, it is : and yet, methinks, it should not, 
For he hath still been tried a holy man ; 
I will not entertain so bad a thought. 
How if, when I am laid into the tomb, 
I wake before the time that Romeo 
Come to redeem me ? there's a fearful point ! 
Shall I not then be stifled in the vault, 
To whose foul mouth no healthsome air breathes in, 
And there die strangled ere my Romeo comes ? 
Or, if I live, is it not very like 
The horrible conceit of death and night, 
Together with the terror of the place, — 
As in a vault, an ancient receptacle, 
Where, for these many hundred years, the bones 
Of all my buried ancestors are pack'd ; 
Where bloody Tybalt, yet but green in earth, 



194 GESTUKE. 

Lies fest'ring in his shroud ; where, as they say, 
At some hours in the night spirits resort ; — 
Alack, alack ! is it not like, that I, 
So early waking, — what with loathsome smells ; 
And shrieks like mandrakes torn out of the earth, 
That living mortals, hearing them, run mad ; — 
O ! if I wake, shall I not be distraught, 
Environed with all these hideous fears ? 
And madly play with my forefathers' joints ? 
And pluck the mangled Tybalt from his shroud ? 
And, in his rage, with some great kinsman's bone, 
As with a club, dash out my desperate brains ? 
O, look ! methinks I see my cousin's ghost 
Seeking out Romeo, that did split his body 
Upon a rapier's point : — Stay, Tybalt, stay ! — 
Romeo, I come ! this do I drink to thee. 

(/She throws herself upon the bed.) 

Gestures of rejection should frequently be employed, 
as if putting away from her the horrible images which 
her own mind has conjured ; these horrors render her 
nearly distraught with fear, and the hands occasion- 
ally clasping the head, the seat of reason, will signify 
the trouble that weighs there. 

Pointing expresses individuality, or a special 
thought or object ; if an object is indicated, real or 
imaginary, the finger should bepro?ie; if of a thought 
the finger should be supine. If the "thought" or 
object be of the energetic order use a straight line ; 
if of beauty or tenderness, etc., a curve line. 

Here are two excellent examples from Macbeth. 
On "innocent flower " the gesture is on the curved 



GESTURE. 195 

line, but the other objects indicated are of the " ener- 
getic " : 

Lady M. O, never 
Shall sun that morrow see ! 
Your face, my thane, is as a book, where men 
May read strange matters. — To beguile the time, 
Look like the time : bear welcome in your eye, 
Your hand, your tongue: look like the innocent flower, 
But be the serpent under it. He that's coming 
Must be provided for : and you shall put 
This night's great business into my despatch ; 
Which shall to all our nights and days to come 
Give solely sovereign sway and masterdom. 
* * * * * * 

Por. The crow doth sing as sweetly as the lark, 
When neither is attended ; and, I think, 
The nightingale, if she should sing by day, 
When every goose is cackling, would be thought 
No better a musician than the wren. 
How many things by season season'd are 
To their right praise, and true perfection ! — 
Peace, hoa ! the moons sleeps with Endymion, 
. And would not be awaked ! (Music ceases. 

Elevation of the hands expresses admiration and 
kindred sentiments, also praise to the Deity, and ap- 
peals to heaven. 

Depression of the hands is expressive of sentiments 
the reverse of those which require the hands elevated : 
aversion, scorn, repulsion are among them. Also de- 
pression of the mind is so indicated. 



196 GESTURE. 

Disgust and sorrow are also described by " de- 
pressed " bands. 

Description. — In describing that which is disagree- 
able or repulsive it is natural to employ the horizon- 
tal line, but with the hand prone (or palm down) ; 
but in picturing the agreeable, the beautiful, use the 
horizontal line with the palm uppermost. Here is 
an example of the first order, taken from King Rich- 
ard II : 

K. Rich. No matter where ; of comfort no man 
speak : 
Let's talk of graves, of worms, and epitaphs ; 
Make dust our paper, and with rainy eyes 
Write sorrow on the bosom of the earth. 
Let's choose executors, and talk of wills : 
And yet not so, — for what can we bequeath, 
Save our deposed bodies to the ground ? 
Our lands, our lives, and all are Bolingbroke's, 
And nothing can we call our own, but death ! 
And that small model of the barren earth, 
Which serve as paste and cover to our bones. 
For Heaven's sake, let us sit upon the ground, 
And tell sad stories of the death of kings :— 
How some have been deposed, some slain in war ; 
Some haunted by the ghosts they have deposed ; 
Some poison'd by their wives, some sleeping kill'd : 
All murder'd : — For within the hollow crown, 
That rounds the mortal temples of a king, 
Keeps death his court : and there the antic sits, 
Scoffing his state, and grinning at his pomp ; 
Allowing him a breath, a little scene 



GESTURE. 197 

To monarchize, be fear'd, and kill with looks ; 

Infusing him with self and vain conceit, — 

As if this flesh, which walls about our life, 

Wore brass impregnable, and, humour'd thus, 

Comes at the last, and with a little pin 

Bores through his castle wall, and — farewell, king ! 

Cover your heads, and mock not flesh and blood 

With solemn reverence ; throw away respect, 

Tradition, form, and ceremonious duty, 

For you have but mistook me all this while ; 

I live with bread like you, feel want, taste grief, 

Need friends : — Subjected thus, 

How can you say to me — I am a king ? 

In the following speech of Antony's, he does not 
always mean the words just as they are, consequently 
the gestures are not meant just as they are given ; the 
words are fair but the meaning is sarcastic ; and nat- 
urally the gestures will exhibit a corresponding fair- 
ness, but a slight exaggeration of them will mark the 
sarcastic expression ; they are mostly then on the 
" horizontal supine," somewhat exaggerated as I said 
before : 

Ant. Good friends, sweet friends, let me not stir 
you up 
To such a sudden flood of mutiny. 
They, that have done this deed, are honourable ; 
What private griefs they have, alas, I know not, 
That made them do it ; they are wise and honourable, 
And will, no doubt, with reasons answer you. 
I come not, friends, to steal away your hearts ; 
I am no orator, as Brutus is : 



198 GESTURE. 

But, as you know me all, a plain blunt man, 

That love my friend : and that they know full well 

That gave me public leave to speak of him. 

For I have neither wit, nor words, nor worth, 

Action, nor utterance, nor the power of speech, 

To stir men's blood : I only speak right on ; 

I tell you that, which you yourselves do know ; 

Shew you sweet Caesar's wounds, poor, poor dumb 

mouths, 
And bid them speak for me : But were I Brutus, 
And Brutus Antony, there were an Antony 
Would ruffle up your spirits, and put a tongue 
In every wound of Csesar, that should move 
The stones of Rome to rise and mutiny. 

— Julius Ccesar. 

Of the second order of descriptive gesture is this 
example from the Midsummer Night's Dream — the 
" horizontal line " must be employed, with hands su- 
pine: 

Puck. My fairy lord, this must be done with haste, 
For night's swift dragons cut the clouds full fast, 
And yonder shines Aurora's harbinger ; 
At whose approach, ghosts, wandering here and there, 
Troop home to churchyards : damned spirits all, 
That in cross-ways and floods have burial, 
Already to their wormy beds are gone ; 
For fear lest day should look their shames upon, 
They wilfully themselves exile from light, 
And must for aye consort with black-brow'd night. 

Obe. But we are spirits of another sort : 
I with the morning's love have oft made sport ; 



GESTURE. 199 

And, like a forester, the groves may tread 
Even till the eastern gate, all fiery red, 
Opening on Xeptune with far blessed beams, 
Turns into yellow gold his salt-green streams. 
But, notwithstanding, haste ; make no delay : 
We may effect this business yet ere day. 

[MsU Ober.] 

Obe. That very time I saw, (but thou couldst not,) 
Flying between the cold moon and the earth, 
Cupid all arm'd : a certain aim he took 
At a fair vestal, throned by the west ; 
And loosed his love-shaft smartly from his bow, 
As it should pierce a hundred thousand hearts ; 
But I might see young Cupid's fiery shaft 
Quench' d in the chaste beams of the wat'ry moon ; 
And the imperial vot'ress passed on, 
In maiden meditation, fancy free. 
Yet mark'd I where the bolt of Cupid fell : 
It fell upon a little western flower — 
Before, milk-white ; now, purple with love's wound, — 
And maidens call it, love-in-idleness. 
Fetch me that flower ; the herb I shew'd thee once ; 
The juice of it on sleeping eyelids laid, 
Will make or man or woman madly dote 
Upon the next live creature that it sees. 
Fetch me this herb ; and be thou here again 
Ere the leviathan can swim a league. 

The action in the speeches of " Clarence's Dream," 
in King Eichard III, is on the " horizontal prone," 
and sometimes, where the feeling is intense, and Cla- 
rence relates he dreamed he saw the murdered spirits 



200 GESTURE. 

who reproached him, propulsion is required as in the 
supernatural : 

Br ok. What was your dream my lord ? I pray you 

tell me. 
Clar. Methought that I had broken from the 

Tower, 
And was embark'd to cross to Burgundy ; 
And, in my company, my brother Gloster ; 
Who from my cabin tempted me to walk 
Upon the hatches, thence we look'd toward England, 
And cited up a thousand heavy times, 
During the wars of York and Lancaster, 
That had befallen us. As we paced along 
Upon the giddy footing of the hatches, 
Methought that Gloster stumbled ; and, in falling, 
Struck me, that thought to stay him, overboard, 
Into the tumbling billows of the main, 
O Lord ! methought what pain it was to drown ! 
What dreadful 'noise of water in mine ears ! 
What sights of ugly death within mine eyes ! 
Methought I saw a thousand fearful wrecks ; 
A thousand men, that fishes gnaw'd upon ; 
Wedges of gold, great anchors, heaps of pearl, 
Inestimable stones, unvalued jewels, 
All scattered in the bottom of the sea, 
Some lay in dead men's skulls ; and in those holes 
Where eyes did once inhabit, there were crept 
(As 'twere in scorn of eyes) reflecting gems, 
That woo'd the slimy bottom of the deep, 
And mock'd the dead bones that lay scatter'd by. 

Brak. Had you such leisure in the time of death, 
To gaze upon the secrets of the deep ? 



GESTURE. 201 

Clar. Methought I had, and often did I strive 
To yield the ghost ; but still the envious flood 
Kept in my soul, and would not let it forth 
To seek the empty, vast, and wand'ring air ; 
But smother'd it within my panting bulk, 
Which almost burst to belch it in the sea. 

JBrak. Awaked you not with this sore agony ? 

Clar. O no, my dream was lengthen'd after life ; 
O, then began the tempest to my soul ! 
I pass'd, methought, the melancholy flood, 
With that grim ferryman which poets write of, 
Unto the kingdom of perpetual night. 
The first that there did greet my stranger soul, 
Was my great father-in-law, renowned Warwick ; 
Who cried aloud, — What scourge for perjury 
Can this dark monarchy afford false Clarence ? 
And so he A^anish'd : Then came wand'ring by 
A shadow like an angel, with bright hair 
Dabbled in blood : and he shriek'd out aloud, — 
Clarence is come,— false, fleeting, perjured Clarence, — 
That stall? d me in the field of Teicksbury ;— 
Seize on him, furies, take him to your torments ! 
With that, methought, a legion of foul fiends 
Environ'd me, and howl'd in mine ears 
Such hideous cries, that, with the very noise, 
I trembling waked, and, for a season after, 
Could not believe but that I was in hell ; 
Such terrible impression made my dream. 

Brak. Xo marvel, lord, though it affrighted you ; 
I am afraid, methinks, to hear you tell it. 

Clar. O, Brakenbury, I have done these things — 
That now give evidence against my soul — 
For Edward's sake ; and see how he requites me ! — 



202 GESTURE. 

God ! if my deep prayers cannot appease thee, 
But thou wilt be avenged on my misdeeds, 

Yet execute thy wrath on me alone : 

O, spare my guiltless wife, and my poor children ! — 

1 pray thee, gentle keeper, stay by me ; 
My soul is heavy, and I fain would sleep. 

Extended Jiangs are expressive of extent, of vast- 
ness, of multiplicity. The hands should never be ex- 
tended behind the person, nor the flat hand be shown. 

" Round he throws his baleful eyes 
That witnessed huge affliction and dismay, 
Mixed with obdurate pride and steadfast hate, 
At once as far as angels ken he views 
The dismal situation waste and wild : 
A dungeon horrible, on all sides round, 
As one great furnace flamed ; yet from those flames 
No light, but rather darkness visible, 
Served only to discover sights of woe, 
Regions of sorrow ! doleful shades ! where peace 
And rest can never dwell ! hope never comes 
That comes to all : but torture without end 
Still urges, and a fiery deluge fed 
With ever-burning sulphur unconsumed ! 

Deferention. — The fingers are slightly separated — 
"as these flowers." An example from "Paradise 
Lost," Book 4, line G89 : 

" Thus talking, hand in hand alone they passed 
On to their blissful bower : it was a place 
Chosen by the sovereign when he framed 



GESTURE. 203 

All things to man's delightful use ; the roof 

Of thickest covert was inwoven shade 

Laurel and myrtle ; and what higher grew, 

Of firm and fragrant leaf : on either side 

Acanthus, and each odorous bushy shrub, 

Fenced up the verdant wall : each beauteous flower, 

Iris all hues, roses, and jessamine, 

Reared high their flourished heads between and wrought 

Mosaic : underfoot the violet, 

Crocus, and hyacinth, with rich inlay, 

Broidered the ground." 



CHAPTER VII. 

MISCELLANEOUS EXAMPLES. 
"FpMPHASIS: 

Who [reverenced Ms conscience^ as his king : 
Whose glory was redressing human wrong, 
Who spake no slander, — no, nor listened to it, 
Who loved one only and who clave to her. 

— Tennyson. 

Psychological positives and negatives : 

Wolsey. Farewell, a long farewell, to all my great- 
ness ! 
This is the [state of man! : To-day he puts forth 
The tender leaves of hope, to-morrow blossoms, 
And bears his [blushing honors! thick upon him : 
The third day comes a frost, a killing frost ; 
And when he thinks f«;ood easy man) full surely 
His greatness is a ripening — nips his root, 
And then he falls, as I do. 

—Henry VIII., Act 3, Sc. 2. 

Psy. pos. and neg. : 



MISCELLANEOUS EXAMPLES. 205 

Lady M. Infirm of purpose ! [Pos. and neg.) 
Give me the daggers : the sleeping, and the dead, 
Are but as pictures ;* 'tis the eye of childhood, 
That fears a painted devil. If he do bleed, [cisp. as in 

secrecy) 
I'll gild the faces of the grooms withal, 
For it must seem their guilt. 

— Macbeth. 

Psy. pos. and neg. : 

/ - w \ 

Por. If to do were as easy as to know what were good 

to do, chapels had heen churches, and poor men's cot- 
tages, princes' palaces. It is a good divine that follows 
his own instructions : I can easier teach twenty what 
were good to be done, than be one of the twenty to fol- 
low mine own teaching. The brain may devise laics for 
the blood ; but a hot temper leaps over a cold decree : 
such a hare is [madness the youtW, to skip o'er the 
meshes of [good counsel the cripple!. But this reasoning- 
is not in the fashion to choose me a husband: — O me, 
the word choose ! I may neither choose whom I would 
nor refuse whom I dislike ; so is the will of a living 
daughter curb'd by the will of a dead father : — Is it not 
hard, Xerissa, that I cannot choose one, nor refuse none ? 
— Merchant of Venice, Act 1, Sc. 2. 

Here is an example from " Measure for Measure " 
of the positive and negative attitudes of mind of the 



* Simile in quick time. 



206 MISCELLANEOUS EXAMPLES. 

speakers with regard to the thoughts they express. 
The duke says, "Be absolute for death"— make up 
your mind to die, and then in either event, whether 
death which it is natural to fear come, or life which is 
sweet, you will be resigned : — 

Enter Duke, Claudio, and Provost. 

Duke. So, then you hope of pardon from lord An- 
gelo? 

Claud. The miserable have no other medicine, 
But onlv Uiops^ : 
I have hope to live, and am prepared to die. 

Duke. Be absolute for death ; either death, or hie, 
Shall thereby be the sweeter. Reason thus with life, — 
If I do lose thee, I do lose a thing 

That none but fools would keep : a ^breath} thou art, • 
(Servile to all the skyey influences,) 
That dost this habitation, where thou keep'st, 
Hourly afflict : merely, thou art death's fool ; 
For him thou labor'st by thy flight to shun, 
And yet runst toward him still : Thou art not hioble±\ 
For all the accommodations that thou bear'st, 
Are nursed by baseness : Thou art by no means valiant; 
For thou dost fear the soft and tender fork 

V w\ s^ \ \ 

Of a poor worm : Thy best of rest is sleep, 
And that thou oft provo&st ; yet grossly fear'st 
Thy death, which is no more. Thou art not thyself ; 
For thou exist'st on many a thousand grains 
That issue out of dust ; Happy thou art not ; 



MISCELLANEOUS EXAMPLES. 207 

For what thou hast not, still thou striv'st to get ; 

And what thou hast, f orget'st. Thou art not certain ; 

For thy complexion shifts to strange effects, 

After the moon : If thou art rich, thou art poor ; 

For, Qike an ass, whose back with ingots bowsl, 

Thou bear'st thy heavy riches but a journey, 

And death unloads thee : Friend hast thou none ; 

For thine own bowels, which do call thee sire, 

The mere effusion of thy proper loins, 

Do curse the gout, serpigo, and the rheum, 

For ending thee no sooner : Thou hast nor youth, nor 

age, 
But, as it were, an [after-dinner's sleep], 
Dreaming on both ; for all thy blessed youth 
Becomes as aged, and doth beg the arms 
Of palsied eld ; and when thou art old, and rich, 
Thou hast neither heat, affection, limb, nor beauty, 
To make thy riches pleasant. What's yet in this, 
That bears the name of life ? Yet in this life 
Lie hid more thousand deaths : yet death we fear, 
That makes these odds all even. 
ClaucJ. I humbly thank you. 
To sue to live, I find, I seek to die ; 
And seeking death, find life : Let it come on. 

An exercise on varied intonations from " As you 
like it": 

Enter Rosalind, Celia, and Jacques. 

Jaq. I pr'ythee, pretty youth, let me be better ac- 
quainted with thee. 



208 MISCELLANEOUS EXAMPLES. 

Ros. They say you are a melancholy fellow. 

Jaq. I am so : I do love it better than laughing. 

Ros. Those, that are in extremity of either, are abom- 
inable fellows ; and betray themselves to every modern 
censure, worse than drunkards. 

Jaq. Why, 'tis good to be sad and say nothing. 

Ros. Why, then 'tis good to be a post. 

Jaq. I have neither the scholar's melancholy, which is 
emulation ; nor the musician's, which is fantastical ; nor 
the courtier's, which is proud ; nor the soldier's, which b 
ambitious ; nor the lawyer's, which is politic ; nor the 
lady's which is nice ; nor the lover's, which is all these : 
but it is a melancholy of mine own, compounded of many 
simples, extracted from many objects ; and, indeed, the 
sundry contemplation of travels in which my often rumi- 
nation wraps m~, is a most humorous sadness. 

Ros. A traveler ! By my faith, you have great reason 
to be sad : I fear, you have sold your own lands, to sec 
other men's ; then, to have seen much, and to have 
nothing, is to have rich eyes and poor hands. 

The practice of varied forms, simply in the requisi- 
tion of the manner, will be the education of the ear, 
both for the purposes of " accuracy " and " analysis." 

The aspirate slightly given on "emulation" to de- 
note eagerness, a dwelling on the vowel sounds in 
"fantastical," mark the peculiarity. On the next 
(proud), the <, which gives dignity, the frequent re- 
sult of pride. Aspirate on "ambitious." Wave of 
the voice on "politic," to mark the lawyer's insinua- 
ting manner. Accent the consonants in " lady's " and 
"nice," to mark precision, "nattyness." Strong em- 
phasis to " all " is speaking of the lover's melancholy. 



MISCELLANEOUS EXAMPLES. 209 

This exercise requires a subdued semitone, as the 
sentiment is regretful and pleading ; it is from " As 
you like it": 

" But whate'er you are • 
That in this desert inaccessible 
(Under the shade of melancholy boughs) 
Lose and neglect the [creeping hours of time!, 
If ever you have looked on better days, 
If ever been where bells have tknolled to church!, 
If ever sat at any good man's feast, 
And know what 'tis to pity and be pitied, 
Let gentleness my strong enforcement be." 

The next requires a nearly similar intonation — " In- 
gratitude": 

Blow, blow, thou wintry wind, 
Thou art not so unkind 

As man's ingratitude ; 
Thy tooth is not so keen, 
Because thou art not seen, 

Although thy breath be rude. 

Freeze, freeze, thou bitter sky, 
That dost not bite so nigh 

As benefits forgot ; 
Though thou the waters warp, 
Thy sting is not so sharp 

As friend remember'd not. 

These lines are from "Aurora Leigh," Mrs. Brown- 
ing ; they are an example of the slow parenthesis : 



210 MISCELLANEOUS EXAMPLES. 

Of writing many books there is no end, 

And I, who have written much in prose and verse, 

For others' uses, will write now for mine, — 

Will write my story for my better self 

(As when you paint your portrait for a friend, 

Who keeps it in a drawer, and looks at it 

Long after he has ceased to love you, just 

To hold together what he was and is), 

Will I, etc., etc. 

The next gives us an example of transfer in em- 
phasis : 

A lean cheek, which you have not y a blue eye and 
sunken, which (you have not) ; an unquestionable spirit, 
which you have not ; a beard neglected, which you have 
not : — but I pardon you for that; for simply your having 
in beard is a younger brother's revenue : — then your 
hose should be ungartered, your bonnet unhanded, your 
sleeve unbuttoned, your shoe untied, and everything 
about you demonstrating a careless desolation. But you 
are no such man, you are rather [point-deviceJ in your 
acoutrements, as loving yourself, than being the lover of 
any other ! 

A clause unemphatic through repetition : 

"The w T orst is not, 
So long as we can say — This is the worst." 

Transfer in emphasis : 

" But yet ! 
I do not like but yet, it does allay 



MISCELLANEOUS EXAMPLES. 211 

The good precedence ; fie upon but yet ; 
But yet is a gaoler to bring forth 
Some monstrous malefactor." 

Contrast : 

" Admire, exult, despise, laugh, weep, for here 
There is such matter for all feeling : — Man ! 
Thou pendulum betwixt a smile and tear." 

Psychological positives and negatives : 

" How poor, how rich, how abject, how august, 
How complicate, how wonderful is man ! 
How passing wonder He who made him such ! 
Who centered in our make such strange extreme, 
From different natures marvellously mixt, 
Connexion exquisite of distant worlds ! 
Distin guish'd link in Beauty's endless chain ! 
Midway from nothing to the Deity ! 
A beam ethereal, sullied, and absorbed ; 
Though sullied and dishonoured, still divine ! 
Dim miniature of greatness absolute ! 
An heir of glory ! a frail child of dust ! 
Helpless immortal ! Insect infinite ! 
A worm ! a god ! 





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